Never Again
by TedandVic4ever
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy never breaks any of his rules when he's on the job, until he finds himself breaking all of them for the one girl he swore he would never fall for, Rose Weasley. Full story of The Secret Life of Scorpius Malfoy.
1. Prologue

A/N: I'm so excited for this story! This first chapter is a prologue and basically sets up the story so you have a general idea of Scorpius' life. At this point, I'm going to say that this story will mostly be from Scorpius' POV (apologies in advance if it's too girly sometimes) although maybe down the line I will include some Rose POVs. I'm going to be honest that some bits of the story may take some imagination on you're part. That being said, if you have any questions regarding the chapters, let me know, I'll try to answer all your questions; without giving away too much of course. Let me know your opinions, criticisms, etc- I read all reviews.

As always, Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. Image belongs to burdge-bug, check her out, she does amazing artwork!

* * *

**Chapter 1- Prologue**

_**1 Year Earlier**_

Scorpius was going to be damned if he failed for the word failed was not in his vocabulary. With as much gusto he could muster up, he sauntered toward the blonde sitting at the table in the corner. His gaze never left the girl before his eyes finally connected with hers. And the moment that happened, he knew he had her wrapped around his fingers. _Dare to make a bet against me getting this girl? Pfft, pathetic; who did they think they were talking to, _Scorpius thought.

"You're looking a bit lonely tonight," Scorpius said in charming voice while smiling at the girl.

He watched as she tried to hold her composure upon seeing him. She was wiggling in the seat at an abnormal rate. "Maybe I am," she responded in an overly rehearsed sex voice. Scorpius mentally made a note to make sure he did most of the talking for the night.

"Let me buy you a drink," Scorpius said suavely before taking a seat next to her. He immediately laid his arm over her shoulders and kicked one leg up to rest on the other. Effortlessly, he waved at the bartender and ordered a drink for the two of them.

When the waitress bought over the drinks, he made sure to throw her a wink before she took off. Even after making her way back to the bar, he could hear her giggles; they were quite annoying if he was honest but he made sure to keep a straight face. "I thought I was keeping you company," the blonde whined. _Turn the tables and make her think you were the one who needed company- check._

Scorpius just smirked before taking a sip of his drink. It seem like it was going to be easier than he thought. She would be at his beckoning before long. For the next five minutes, his fingers glided on her shoulders, making her shudder underneath him. This was it, just in time to seal the deal as he finished his drink.

He turned to look her in the eyes, making sure the lights captured his cool grey eyes perfectly. And than he leaned in as if to make a motion to kiss her, only to go to her ears, whispering in the perfect combination of sexy and charm, "Let's go."

The girl eagerly nodded before grabbing her jacket. Being the gentleman he was, he held out his arm for her to take (not that she was lady-like, if he had to guess, she was probably another slag looking for a lay). The blonde let the way out the door and Scorpius took one last glance at his friends and threw them a smug look. "You owe me ten galleons," he mouthed to the group.

* * *

_**Present**_

At seven sharp, Scorpius got up like clockwork. He entered the shower, making sure to rid himself of yesterday's dirty work. After leaving the showers, he pulled on a pair of boxers. The next routine took the longest, his hair. Yes, his hair was his most recognizable possession; it was the lightning scar to his Harry Potter. Every strand was meticulously placed, especially if it was for a client. He made sure the hairs were slicked back uniformly before applying some potion to make the platinum hue shine even more exceptionally. If he found himself with a free day however, he usually left it sticking whichever way it went; but he had learned a long time ago that girls tended to like the more well put together look.

Soon after, Scorpius entered his enormous closet, which was kept in an impeccable order. He reminded himself of what was written in the dossier, _likes blue,_ and quickly picked out a blue shirt and tie to pair with his black robes. Normally, he would wear his black shoes; but today, he was feeling a little risky so he went with the mahogany ones instead. And upon reaching his desk, he placed the leather watch on his wrist. Taking one last look in the mirror, he straightened out his cuffs and smirked. _Time to get to work._

"Hi, I'm looking for a Ms. Chambers," Scorpius said to the receptionist.

Without looking up, the receptionist told him in a bored tone that Ms. Chambers was in a meeting and for him to wait. The old tosser was probably used to the mundane task of telling people to wait, but not Scorpius. It was time to turn on the charm. He cleared his throat as to signify that he was still standing there.

"I said, Ms. Chambers is…" the receptionist started but never finished.

"Ever been told you look like Celestina Warbeck?" Scorpius started before taking a peek at her name tag, "Gladys?"

The old woman blushed before mumbling something along the lines of "Well when I was younger…" but Scorpius didn't give two hoots about what she said afterwards. The only thing that mattered was that within two minutes, he was let in to meet Ms. Chambers without having to wait for the _meeting_ to finish.

Scorpius knocked on the door where the name Jane Chambers was written across it. After three knocks, the person behind the door mentioned for him to enter. Scorpius rolled his neck from side to side; he really hoped this girl was at least nice to look at if he was going to spend the next week or so hanging around her.

Much to Scorpius' delight, the woman was not only decent looking; she was gorgeous. _Well this sure makes things a lot more interesting, _he thought. She stood up to greet him and offered a small smile before shaking his hand and sitting down again. "Nice to meet you Mr. Malfoy, I was made aware that you were interested in filling our vacant spot."

"Yes, I'm very well interested in working for the transportation department," Scorpius responded smoothly.

Jane nodded, "Good, well can you tell me a little about yourself and why you would be a good fit for the job?"

After fifteen minutes, Scorpius walked out of the office not only landing the job but also found out what she did after work, her favorite food, favorite books, all the way down to the magazines she had subscribed to. As he left the building, he made sure to wink at Gladys; albeit a weak one, he didn't need the old woman having a heart attack, he was going to need her later.

Scorpius rounded the corner and made his way toward the bistro to meet his client. He spotted the man immediately at the bar and took a seat next to him. "I'm in," Scorpius said in a deadpan voice.

"Good, just make sure she's broken up with him by next week," the man replied.

Scorpius nodded. "That will come in handy later," the man supplied as he handed a small package to Scorpius.

He nodded again before taking the package the man handed him and slipped it into his breast pocket. "I'll keep you posted," he said and without another word, he walked out of the bistro and into an alley. With a pop, Scorpius apparated away.

* * *

The next three days were harder than he had suspected. Jane Chambers was a moral woman and it would seem that breaking up her relationship was going to take more than the usual charms. But Scorpius was better and he knew it. By the fourth day at work, she had cracked and accepted his lunch invitation. They flirted shamelessly in the restaurant and Scorpius made sure Gladys was aware of their _dates_.

"Hey, do you want to go to dinner with the rest of us?" Jane offered on the sixth night.

Scorpius threw an anxious look at her. "I don't know Jane, I still have a ton of things to do, and I don't want to get behind on my first week," he said hesitantly, making sure to drag each word out.

Jane waved him off, "It's fine; I'll just tell the director that someone messed up the paperwork before it got to you."

"You sure?" Scorpius asked.

Jane thought for a second before she nodded confidently, "Yeah don't worry about it, come have dinner with us." _Bingo, the dinner date. _Scorpius was close to breaking her; it was time to put the plan in motion.

"Okay sure, but I just need to send off one letter, do you mind waiting downstairs for me?" Scorpius asked.

"Not a problem, I'll see you downstairs," Jane replied sweetly.

_Aw poor girl, and he was really starting to like her..._Scorpius chuckled, who was he kidding. He couldn't wait to get out of this hellhole. Scorpius took out the piece of paper that belonged to Jane that he had coaxed Gladys to giving him. With precision, he mimicked her handwriting onto a clean parchment and sent his letter off with an office owl.

Scorpius sat next to her at the table while the rest of the colleagues chattered about random gossip. Sometime along the dinner, most of the workers left and only Scorpius and Jane were left at the table. "You wouldn't happen to be seeing anyone would you?" Scorpius had managed to work into their conversation.

It took a few minutes to for her to respond, Scorpius could see she was torn. Who wouldn't be when they were sitting next to a handsome chap like him. Finally, she responded with a quiet _no, _and it was then that Scorpius put himself to work. After ordering her a few drinks, she couldn't keep her hands off of him.

"Why on earth is a guy like you single?" Jane slurred as she put one hand on his chest and breathed into his ear.

Scorpius chuckled before pulling her away so they could look at each other, "Am I?" He arched his brow at her and waited for her to piece together what he was insinuating.

She giggled before kissing his neck, "Hmm, maybe not."

He allowed her to have her way with him for a few more minutes just to make sure that when the time came, he had the evidence he needed to back him. Scorpius checked his watch once more before leaning into her ear, "You want to go?"

Jane giggled once more and nodded enthusiastically. When they finally left, he had managed to convince her to return to her place. Getting her to fall asleep was quite an easy feat since he made sure she had been thoroughly drunk before they left the restaurant. When he was sure she had fallen asleep, he apparated back to his flat; if there was one thing Scorpius didn't do was mix business with pleasure; _Rule 2- no sex on the job._

* * *

With timed precision, Scorpius apparated back to Jane's flat the next morning before she woke up. He made sure not to do his morning routine to make it look like he had slept with her the whole night. "Morning babe," Scorpius pretended in a groggy voice while still managing to smile.

Jane smiled back and threw her arms around him, "I'm surprise you stuck around."

"What do you mean?" Scorpius chuckled.

Jane leaned into his chest and hummed, "Nothing, just took you for the guy who would leave before the girl woke up."

Scorpius smirked; everything was going according to plan. Apparently she'd believed that the two of them had slept together last night. "Well, I have to get back to my flat to get ready," Scorpius faked in a sad voice.

"Do you have to?" Jane whined. "Who could do it again," she offered.

_Ah, so she finally shows her slaggy side; no one could resist his charm. _"We shouldn't," Scorpius said in a reasonable tone.

After a few more unnecessary bouts between them, Scorpius finally managed to leave the bed but not before making sure to peck her on the lips. "I'll see you in the office," he winked. As he left the room, he glanced down on the floor at the blue tie lying there before walking out the door.

Scorpius waited around the corner before he spotted the man enter the flat. He followed soon afterwards. When he made it outside her door, he could hear the distinct sound of an argument occurring on the other side of the door.

"I get a letter from you saying that you needed to see me and then I come home to find a random tie on the floor. What the hell should I think about this Jane?" the man yelled.

"What? I never sent you any mail!" Jane cried.

The man laughed in mad hysterics, "Who the fuck cares Jane, the point is that you're cheating on me!"

"No, I swear I'm not Rick," Jane pleaded.

Scorpius smirked before reaching into his breast pocket and pulled out the package. A brass key slipped out from it and he inserted it into the hole. When it clicked, he smiled.

"Oh I'm sorry babe, I left my tie here," Scorpius feigned innocence of just having walked in on an argument between the couple.

The man stared angrily between him and Jane, "What do you call that!"

Scorpius watched as Jane broke down in tears before he took his cue, "Jane? What is this? You told me you weren't seeing anyone," Scorpius said in a hurt voice. He took in her scared look and without another word, he slammed the door.

Scorpius arrived at the office smiling but turned on the act again once he spotted Jane entering the office. The moment she saw him, she asked to speak privately with him. But he made sure to gather as much attention from the others as he could before allowing her to take him to her office.

The whole conversation consisted of _how could you's_ from Scorpius and a bunch of _sorry's_ from Jane. "Please Scorpius, I broke up with him for you. You're the one I want to be with," she pleaded.

"You mean, he dumped you when he found out you were cheating. You're pathetic," Scorpius mumbled as he opened the office door, looking defeated. When he noticed the sudden rush of chairs, he mentally smiled to himself; everyone in the office had heard it.

"By the way Jane, I quit," Scorpius said in a stony voice.

As he left the building once and for all, he saw the sympathetic looks that were thrown his way, particularly Gladys. _Mission accomplished._

Once again Scorpius met with the man in the bistro at the bar. "Job's complete," Scorpius stated in a business like tone.

"Glad to hear," the man responded before handing Scorpius an envelope.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Scorpius said as he took the envelope and without another word, left.


	2. The Set Up

**Chapter 2- The Set Up**

Scorpius laid on his couch, one arm stretched across the top and his feet on the coffee table. It was another long day and another job complete; but that's what he liked. Scorpius liked to keep his days occupied, even if it mean taking on two jobs simultaneously; he hated having nothing to do. Which is precisely what was going on at the moment. Earlier today after he'd finished his mission, he took a quick look over his schedule, only to find that he had the next three days off.

Just as he was about to get off the couch, someone flooed into his flat- his mother. Well this long day was about to get even longer. Astoria Greengrass, formerly Malfoy- before the divorce, entered the living room of her only son. "Mother, what are you doing here?" Scorpius asked in a bored tone.

Astoria wrinkled her nose, "I can't just visit my son because I want to?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes, he knew what his mother was here for; what she always visited him for- a girl. "I don't care who it is, I'm not interested, Mother."

The older woman folded her arms, "Can't you at least hear me out? Scorpius dear, you're 24, when are you going to settle down? Your father and I got marr…" she paused.

Scorpius waited for her to continue. "You were saying?"

"Nevermind, the point is, you're a handsome and intelligent young man, you should be happy, not partying you're life away," Astoria continued.

Scorpius chuckled, "I'm happy just the way I am, and I don't go drinking at odd hours and come home hammered. I have a job and my own place, and I didn't need you or Father to get it."

Astoria waved it off before asking him to fetch her a drink. _The irony of her telling me not to drink yet the first thing she asks for is a drink._

"Well just let me set up one date," Astoria pleaded before taking a drink from her son. Scorpius sat down next to her.

When she noticed her son sitting down without a drink, "You're not going to have a drink with your mother?" Scorpius was about to point out what she said earlier about drinking and partying but decided to just give in; he didn't need any unnecessary banter that would keep his mother here any longer.

As Scorpius approached his bar again, he contemplated on just getting something light but decided that if he was going to be free for the next three days, he might as well let loose. As one of his _rules, _he never drank on the job. He didn't need alcohol clouding his mind and usually pretended to drink something when he needed to.

"Okay Mother, tell me about this girl," Scorpius obliged.

Astoria clapped her hands together before squealing…_yes the 48 old woman was actually squealing. _"Well, her name is Anna Duncan, comes from a well off family. She works in the Law Department in the ministry…" she started. _How boring._

After his mother was content with all the information she had given him, she finally decided to leave. Of course, not before giving him Anna's number. Scorpius literally had to push his mother into the fireplace or she would have never left. Once she was gone, Scorpius took one look at the paper and chuckled before throwing the paper into the fire.

He didn't need any girl to complicate his life. For one, it would be awfully difficult considering his line of work, although he couldn't blame his mother for that- no one knew what he did, everyone just assumed he worked in some high ranking company. Thankfully, his parents were never ones to pry so he never did have to explain himself to them. And then there was the fact that he had seen first hand how relationships never worked.

* * *

Part of the reason why he was so good at what he did was his physical being. Not only did Scorpius have the face and charisma, he had the body. Keeping in shape was never a hard thing to do; Scorpius usually flew around in a large field and occasionally played a few games of pick-up quidditch if his buddies had time.

Today he found himself in the field with Wes Nott, Lucas Smith and Dwayne White. His other friends were usually too busy seeing as they were Aurors but four was a good number for a short game of quidditch.

After an hour of gameplay, the group finally landed down to take a rest. "I'm beat," Wes, the tallest of the group, said.

"You're out of shape just cause you have a girl now," Lucas teased.

Wes swatted Lucas in the back of the head. "Sod off," he muttered.

Scorpius just smirked; _poor chap's getting tied down by the girl. _

"Speaking of Lisa and I, um…" Wes started shyly.

"What about you and Lisa?" Lucas asked as he threw the towel toward Scorpius. He caught it with ease and wiped the sweat off of his face.

"Well, we're getting married," Wes finished. The three friends froze in their spots as they waited for Wes to pull out a "just kidding" but nothing happened. Dwayne was the first to act appropriately and congratulate Wes, thoroughly breaking the awkward silence that followed Wes' surprise announcement. Lucas eventually came around and Scorpius followed.

In truth, Scorpius couldn't see why Wes would want to get married; instinct told him that Lisa was probably pressuring him. During their years at Hogwarts, Wes had stated repeatedly that he was planning on living the bachelor life. And now that same guy was going to get married...at 24! Scorpius knew Lisa wasn't bad and would probably make a perfect wife but he just didn't understand.

After they decided to call it a day, Wes pulled Scorpius aside. "Can I talk to you?" Wes asked.

"Sure mate," Scorpius replied.

"Look, I know what you were thinking when I dropped the bomb earlier about getting married. But I'm going to tell you right now, that it was my decision, not Lisa's," Wes said in a serious tone.

Scorpius was surprised but quickly changed it to indifference, "You didn't have to tell me anything Wes, it's your life."

"I know, but I also know what you're like with this topic. Ever since your parents…" Wes started but was promptly cut off with Scorpius walking away.

Wes jogged a few steps to keep pace with Scorpius. "Sorry about that mate, I didn't mean to bring it up, it's just that…will you just stop for a minute and hear me out?" Wes huffed.

Scorpius stopped. "It's just that I wanted to ask you to be my best man and I didn't want the best man not backing me up on that altar…I need you mate," Wes finished.

For a moment, there was silence before Scorpius' lips curled up. "Lucas was right, you really are out of shape."

Wes smiled, "Knew I could count on you."

"Just do me a favor and don't make me dance with any of Lisa's crazy friends at the wedding," Scorpius joked.

* * *

_Scorp,_

_Hey where are you mate? I checked your flat and no one answered. We have fittings tonight at 8, I hope you remember and if not, you better hope this letter gets to you in time or Lisa's going to kill me. If she kills me, I'm going to haunt you in your sleep until you die so you better get your arse here on time._

_Wes_

Scorpius immediately jumped out of bed and pulled on his clothes. Unfortunately, his shuffling had woken up Barbara. "Scorpius, where are you going?"

"Listen Barbara, I've got to go home," Scorpius said in a rush. He'd never been one to speak in a fluster, _Rule 5- always keep the charm on,_ but the fact that he was currently sitting half way across the world from England, Scorpius managed to lose track of time and he desperately needed to go. Normally he never lost track of anything but robe fitting for the wedding wasn't exactly at the top of his to-do list.

"But Scorpiusssss…." Barbara whined.

Scorpius straightened out his attire, "Monday, we'll catch up." Without missing another second, Scorpius stepped into the woman's fireplace and disappeared.

_Damn, going to have to do extra damage control when I get back, _he thought. Scorpius had been offered a job last week. His client said nothing about packing his bags and going to Australia for a whole week but once the contract was made, there was no turning back.

Scorpius took a look at his watch, 8:10. He hoped Wes was going to be forgiving; he needed to be alive if he was going to go back on Monday and complete his job. Stopping by his flat for just a second to drop off his belongings, Scorpius apparated straight to Madame Malkin's.

"I'm here!" Scorpius said the moment he entered the shop.

"Thank Merlin. Where the hell have you been mate? Hanging out with the Dark Lord down under again?" Wes exclaimed although Scorpius could see his friend was just relieved that he was finally present.

Scorpius smirked; funny thing was, one could technically say that he was _down under, _as Australia was known to be called that but he wasn't going to involve Wes in anything else. Robe fitting was enough to make his friend mental, it would seem.

Wes was surprised at how quick Scorpius was fitted. "Wow, that's gotta be record time, it took me almost half an hour to get the measurements right and you only took…" Wes looked at the clock, "ten minutes!"

Scorpius was about to say it was because his body was just standard so there weren't too many things that needed changing but the old tailor cut in. "That's because this one already knew all of his measures," she chuckled. "I'd guess you already own quite a few robes yourself haven't you?"

"What Scorpius? No way, the guy hated wearing robes and suits when we were in school," Wes laughed.

Scorpius only kept a straight face, the truth was, he did hate dressing up when he was growing up. Nowadays, however, with his particular job, he had no choice. On top of this, he had already grown accustomed to them and had to admit, looking put together always made his job a lot easier. Luckily, Wes and the old tailor dropped the topic.

"I'm taking you got my letter?" Wes chuckled as they made their way out of the shop.

Scorpius ran his hand through his hair, "Yeah, sorry about being late. How about we get a drink, my treat." Scorpius needed to get Wes off the topic of why he was late or why he wasn't in his flat in the first place. The thing was, no one knew what Scorpius really did for a living and he intended to keep it that way.

"Well, if it's your treat," Wes smiled smugly. Scorpius rolled his eyes; he knew he was going to have to drop a few galleons tonight but anything to keep the topic off of himself. _Rule 7; keep your personal life out of everything. _He wasn't exactly on the job but it would seem that some of his habits had crossed over.

* * *

It was the day of the wedding and Scorpius was his usual charming self, acting the part of the best man perfectly. He had been an absolute gentleman; he greeted and complimented every woman that crossed his path. But being the person he was, it wasn't really a challenge. Scorpius learned how to put on a façade a long time ago; it was practically bred into his genetics.

Everything was going fine until Wes went back on his word and asked Scorpius to dance with Lisa's maid of honor. "But its tradition mate," Wes had said when he joined him at the bar. Scorpius had one hand in his pocket and the other clutching a drink. He was perfectly fine at where he was standing.

After five minutes, Scorpius rolled his eyes before putting down the drink, "Let's get this over with."

He was going to kill Wes, not to mention the rest of his friends. Scorpius was currently stuck dancing with a plump girl whose face was permanently stuck in a _someone just fart in my face_ state. The plan had been for him to dance with the maid of honor but by the time they made it back to the floor, she was already dancing with her boyfriend. Scorpius had no intention of cutting in and he was just glad to have been relieved of his job. However, Wes didn't let him off that easy and instead, thought it would be funny if Scorpius danced with the plump girl sitting by herself who was also chugging down a whole table's worth of food. When Wes asked her if she wanted to dance with Scorpius, he was almost scared. The look of hunger she had on her face made it look like she wanted to have him for dessert.

So this was how he was stuck dancing with the non maid of honor pig of a girl. Sure he'd dealt with many girls in his job but none of them smelt like they hadn't taken a shower in a decade.

"Mind if I have a dance with my boyfriend?" someone had cut in, halfway through the strenuously long song.

Scorpius immediately snapped his head toward the voice before his eyes landed on a blonde standing next to them. He could see that his current dance partner wasn't happy with the fact that the handsome man whom she could never land in reality had a girlfriend. Scorpius, as politely as he humanly could, thanked her the dance but said that he would really like to dance with his girlfriend now.

He could feel her stomping back to the table before he focused his attention on his savior. "You're pretty slick," Scorpius said with a smirk.

"I should think you owe me a thank you," she whispered into his ears.

Scorpius chuckled, "For what? You're the one who wanted to dance with me, so much so that you lied and called a complete stranger your boyfriend."

The blonde grinned, "Not a complete stranger."

Scorpius pulled back, "I don't believe we've ever met before."

"Maybe not, but I think our mothers might have," she laughed before pointing towards the other side. Scorpius snapped his head in the direction she had pointed in and sure enough, he could see his own mother chatting with another lady who he presumed to be her mother.

When he turned back to face her, he smiled to himself. "Anna Duncan," he recited. _I should have known Mother wasn't going to give up so easily._

"Yours truly," Anna smiled.

Scorpius continued dancing silently before Anna spoke again, "What, not going to introduce yourself?"

He smirked, "I'm sure Mother's already introduced me to you."

"She has, but why don't you tell me. Mother's tend to over exaggerate their son's accomplishments. How do I know she didn't just say nice things about you to butter me up," she challenged with a twinkle in her eye.

"Well you thought wrong. Maybe you should listen to mothers more often," Scorpius retorted. He had to hand it to her though, if his life had any semblance of normalcy, he would have told Anna that she was right. But in the interest of keeping his personal life private, he told her otherwise. Honestly, she couldn't expect him to just outright say; _Hi I'm Scorpius Malfoy. I'm a professional couple splitter. Yeah it's a mouthful but it means I earn my living breaking up relationships. _Not exactly the kind of thing you say to people.

Anna looked straight into his grey eyes, "Mhmm, you're full of mystery aren't you."

Scorpius was about to refute but he was taken by surprise when she leaned in for a kiss. "That wasn't a question," she said in a husky tone as their foreheads rested on each other.

After the song had officially ended, she smiled and thanked him for the dance before leaving him shocked by her actions. When he finally recovered, he smiled; so she wanted to play _that _game. Scorpius was the master of the cat and mouse game, it was his job for Merlin's sake; but this one was feisty, so he was going to let her play her game. _She did have a nice arse._

* * *

A/N: First off, thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews and comments; they really made my day. For those waiting for Rose, I will say that you will get a _hint _of her in the next chapter; but just remember, this is mostly Scorpius' story so you'll probably get a lot more of him than her. Will love you forever if you review!_  
_


	3. Meet and Greet

**Chapter 3- Meet and Greet**

"Hey babe, how was your day?" Anna asked from the bed.

Scorpius entered the room and threw his coat onto the chair and began untying his tie. "Just peachy," he growled.

Anna giggled before climbing to the end of the bed and met him for a kiss. "Want to tell me about it?" she asked.

"Nope," Scorpius responded like he always had when she questioned him about his job. For the past few months, they were being fairly _un-_exclusive with their relationship so he hadn't felt the need to reveal too much about his life to her.

But the truth was, his day had been…_peachy. _Most notably when his day ended with a peach cobbler being thrown at his face. Lately, Scorpius was having a hard time concentrating on his tasks; he was still as charming as ever but at times, he felt like something was stopping him. He didn't know what but suddenly, he started having thoughts about his future and wondered how long he would be able to keep this up.

Scorpius excused himself to take a shower. Even though it had been fairly easy to clean himself up with a spell, he still had the peachy smell all over him. It's not that he didn't like peaches; it just wasn't _him_.

While he was in the shower, his mind started wondering back to his recent thoughts of his future. He wouldn't have his looks forever and he'd have to make an honest living and eventually settle down, _how delighted his mother would be if she heard his thoughts right now. _The problem was, he didn't know what had sparked these ideas.

As he exited his bathroom, he was still confused. It wasn't until he laid eyes on Anna again that it struck him. It was right in front of him all this time, it was her, she was what was wrong with him. _Wrong? _Scorpius scrunched his face, the idea didn't sound wrong actually. Looking at the blonde now, it was like he saw her for the first time. Her green eyes gazing at him and for once in his life, Scorpius felt like he wanted something more.

When he laid down on his bed, Anna immediately snuggled close to him. "Hmm, so are you up for it tonight?" she mumbled into his chest.

Scorpius continued to glide his fingers over her shoulders and before his brain could stop him, his lips parted. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Scorpius asked, surprising even himself. However, when he finally said it out loud and saw the genuinely happy face on Anna, he knew it wasn't wrong.

* * *

Scorpius checked his watch for the umpteenth time tonight; the prat was always late. The bartender walked by his seat once again and smiled, "Would you like anything else?"

"Not at the moment, waiting for a mate to join me," Scorpius said with a smirk.

"Alright, well ring me if you need anything," the bartender said, swaying her hips as she walked away.

Scorpius winked, "Sure sweetie."

"Scorpius Malfoy, playboy extraordinaire," someone said as they clapped from behind.

Scorpius smirked. "I wouldn't need to be if you arrived on time more often," he said as he turned the chair around to face the raven-haired man.

Albus Potter was a carbon copy of his father, everything down to the messy black hair and the emerald green eyes. They became good friends in school where the middle Potter was surprisingly sorted into Slytherin. Of course, Scorpius hadn't been in much contact with his friend for the last few months. Albus was an Auror like his father, _surprise surprise, _and would be away for months at a time. He'd even missed Wes' wedding earlier this year because he was away on a mission.

"Got caught up with the family, they didn't want to let me go," Albus joked.

"What did I tell you, Potters are just a bunch of pansies," Scorpius retorted.

Albus took a seat next to Scorpius at the bar and signaled the bartender for a drink. Now that Scorpius looked more closely, he could see how tired his friend was. Being an Auror wasn't an easy thing and even after the war had ended, there were still endless copycats out in the wizarding world.

When the bartender brought over the drink, she smiled at Scorpius once again. However, after noticing Albus as well, she proceeded to give him the same treatment and offered her services before sashaying her way back to the other side of the bar.

"I can see why you were staring at her arse before," Albus said with a grin as he took a sip of his drink.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "I'm a taken man."

Albus almost spat out his drink when he heard this. He quickly wiped his mouth with his arm before staring at Scorpius, his eyes the size of saucers. "Since when?"

"It's been six months," Scorpius said. He couldn't help but smile as he said this; it sounded it good against his mouth.

Albus leaned in and signaled Scorpius to lean in as well. "Does she know?" he whispered. Although Scorpius had kept his job a secret from everyone else, there was one person who knew the truth- Albus. It wasn't something he wanted to tell his friend but after a long drunk session a few years ago, he accidentally let slip what he was doing. That was how _Rule 3, never drink on the job, _came to be.

Scorpius shook his head. "Well I think that's something you might want to fill her in on," Albus concluded.

"No need, that's all behind me. I work in for a sales company now," Scorpius replied.

"Are you shitting me? Scorpius Malfoy has an honest job and a long term relationship?" Albus exclaimed.

Scorpius chuckled, "That's why happens when you're away for too long. Life goes on, mate."

"Does your mother know about you two?" Albus asked.

"The _mother _set us up…in a way. We're having brunch tomorrow," Scorpius said as he took a sip of his drink.

Scorpius could see the mischievous twinkle in Albus' eyes and before he could say anything else, "I'll join you guys tomorrow. I want to see her."

* * *

"Oh Albus dear, what a surprise to see you. How are you doing?" Astoria asked when she answered the door.

"Great, good to see you too Astoria," Albus responded.

"Why didn't you tell me Albus was coming, Scorpius?" Astoria asked as she turned her attention to her son.

Scorpius mumbled under his breath, "He invited himself."

After Albus and Scorpius were settled in, they chatted briefly with Astoria while they waited for Anna. She was at work but agreed to join them for brunch during her lunch break. "Scorpius, when did Anna say she was coming?" Astoria asked.

"Noon Mother, stop worrying," Scorpius said as he took a sip of coffee, he never did like the taste of tea.

"Besides, it's not like there'll be anything left by the time she gets here," he mumbled at Albus' direction. The man was currently devouring all the finger sandwiches at an incredible speed.

It would be another fifteen minutes before Anna actually arrived. She immediately apologized to Astoria and kissed Scorpius on the lips. "Who's this," she asked in a surprised tone when they entered the porch.

"Al Potter, pleasure to meet you," Albus smiled without missing a beat.

"Al, Anna; Anna, Al," Scorpius introduced the two. "He invited himself by the way," Scorpius joked as he pulled the chair out for Anna.

"Hey, I'm right here!" Albus exclaimed before smiling sweetly at Anna. "So tell me, how did you two meet?"

The question had prompted Astoria Greengrass to start a whole tale of how the two of them met and her part in it all. The whole meal took well over an hour, after which time Anna had to go back to work but the two friends continued talking beyond. Mostly because the older woman wanted to know how Albus was doing and secretly trying to set a girl up with him as well. As if her son's relationship was a success because of her superior match making skills.

"I like her," Albus suggested after Astoria finally left the two men alone.

Scorpius chuckled, he had a feeling Albus liked Anna the moment she had joked about him getting the job because Harry Potter was his father. Normally, Albus didn't take it likely when people insinuated nepotism but Anna had somehow managed to turn it into a joke. "So glad I have your approval," Scorpius said sarcastically.

"Where did you say she worked?" Albus asked.

"Law department at the ministry," Scorpius responded.

Albus smirked, "I think I'll visit the law department more often when I get back to work."

* * *

Scorpius woke up the next day with the sun shining on his back. When he realized where he was, he smiled before taking her into his arms. Last night had been one of the most amazing nights of his life and it was all thanks to her. Scorpius couldn't believe that in just eight months worth of time, his life had taken a complete one eighty.

When Anna began stirring, he rested his chin on her shoulders, "Morning."

"Morning," she replied with a smile as she rubbed his arm.

Everything was peaceful until Anna suddenly jumped up, "What time is it?"

"Ten," Scorpius said with a confused look. He didn't understand why she was worried about the time, today was her day off.

"Oh bullocks, I have to go babe," she said as she struggled to pull on her clothes all at once.

Scorpius furrowed his brow, "I thought you didn't have work today."

"I don't but we're working on this big case right now and I promised my boss that I would go in today to help. We're so close to closing it so it's all hands on deck," she explained.

"Yeah but why do that when you can spend all day in bed with a sex god," Scorpius said in a devilish tone.

Anna gave him a shocked look before leaning in, "Oh you are such a bad man."

"But I really have to go," she said after kissing him.

"Alright, do you want me to go?" Scorpius said as he stood up to pull up his pants.

He smiled as she scrambled to find her wand, "What? Oh no, no, stay. I'll only be away for a few."

Scorpius spotted her wand on the nightstand and walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her middle and held the wand up in front of her. "Looking for this?" he whispered into her hair.

"Yes," she said before she turned around and kissed him once again.

After a few more intimate exchanges, Anna finally managed to leave his grasp. "What am I to do while you're gone?" Scorpius feigned thinking.

Anna chuckled as she opened the door. Just as she walked over the threshold, she bent down and picked up a packet and threw it at Scorpius. "Here, read one of my magazines," she said as she closed the door.

Scorpius chuckled before throwing the magazine onto the coffee table. Now that Anna had left, he suddenly felt very tired and yesterday's activities were finally catching up. He decided to brew some coffee before he attempted to function for the rest of the day.

After taking a quick shower, Scorpius made a quick meal of eggs and toast and sat down with his cup of coffee. He hadn't intended to read the magazine Anna gave him but something suddenly caught his eye.

_Rose Weasley, __Shopping in London with Mystery Guy_; was written across the top left corner of Witch Weekly.

* * *

A/N: So the official introduction of Rose into this story. She won't actually be included physically in the story until a bit later but I promise, her debut will be soon! What do you guys think so far? Let me know and as always reviews are much appreciated!


	4. All in the Past

A/N: Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews! I've been busy so I couldn't respond to all the comments but if there are specific questions, I'll be happy to answer them. Also, this chapter's arrangement is a bit different. There's a lot of flash backs, most of them are within 1-2 hours of the present time (they are labeled as such) but there's a part in the end that explains some of Scorpius' past while he was in Hogwarts, that chuck will be in italics. It's not as confusing as I'm making it sound but I just wanted to warn you before hand. Please read and review!

* * *

_**Scorpius' POV (Present)**_

The rain pounded on the windows, the thunder roared but none of that stopped Scorpius from spilling his anger, in fact, it only made him yell even louder. His hair was a mess and sprang in all directions; if he was a betting man at this point, he would have to say that it out-messed Albus' hair. But Scorpius wasn't in any mood to play around; this was all business.

"Is it true?" Scorpius yelled across the room. When she didn't answer, he knew it was over. The life he built himself for the past nine months was all a lie. Anna stood at the other side, crying to herself as she tried to silently show him that she was sorry. After looking at her for a few minutes, he couldn't stand it anymore. Scorpius turned toward the window and pounded it with his fist.

* * *

_**1 Hour Earlier**_

"Well you're home early today," Scorpius chortled, "I thought you said you were going to be working late."

He walked out of the bedroom and into the living room but instead of looking at Anna, he found himself looking at a disheveled Albus. He squinted his eyes before greeting his friend, "Albus?"

Albus looked worriedly at Scorpius as if he were a five-year-old boy who just did something bad. Albus' hand flew straight to his hair, tousling it like he always did whenever he was nervous. Scorpius knew it was going to be bad news; _Albus probably pissed off Liz again_.

"Spit out it Albus, I don't have all day," Scorpius sighed. It was rather off putting seeing your best mate when you were looking forward to your girlfriend coming home. And if Scorpius was right, he might end up staying longer than he was welcomed to and _that wasn't good. _Especially since Scorpius had set the flat to fit a two person romantic night; dinner, champagne, dessert and hopefully _more_.

"Well the thing is, I might have seen something," Albus said.

Scorpius snorted. "Well you aren't blind so, yeah, you saw something…?" he tried to coax the rest of the sentence out of Albus.

When Albus didn't continue, Scorpius sighed. "Look, if it's not important, can't you tell me about it another time? Anna is coming over later."

However, the moment Scorpius had finished, Albus suddenly become angered. _Merlin, the man works as an Auror and he gets upset over me kicking him out?_

"She's cheating on you!" Albus exclaimed.

Scorpius suddenly felt like he was just run over by a hippogriff. His face grew pale as Albus' words circled in his mind, over and over again. After the shock wore off, Scorpius' face grew cold before he turned to walk the other way, "I want you out of my flat."

"Look mate, I know you don't want to hear any of it, but I saw her!" Albus exclaimed.

Scorpius grabbed Albus by the collar and slammed him against the wall, "You slimy git, you like her don't you?"

"What?" Albus asked exasperatedly. "Do I like her? Are you out of your mind, she's you're girlfriend!"

"Yeah? And what? I've seen the way you look and talk to her," Scorpius gritted against his teeth.

"_Liked_ her as in a friend, as in I'm friendly because she's _your_ girlfriend," Albus growled before pushing Scorpius off of him.

Scorpius pounded the wall; he knew Albus had nothing to do with this situation. But he didn't want to face the facts, it was all hitting so close to home and he didn't need to go through it again. "I'm sorry this had to happen," Albus mumbled as he patted Scorpius' back.

After Albus left, Scorpius felt limp. He didn't know what else to do quite frankly. He didn't remember much from what had happened back when he was twelve; it was all so hazy. His mother made quite sure that he was shielded from the devastation and Scorpius never bothered trying to remember either.

However, after sitting on his couch with his head in his hands, he knew he couldn't sit here all night thinking about it. He needed answers and she was the only one who could give it to him. And then he swore, he would leave.

* * *

_**Albus' POV (2 Hours Earlier)**_

Albus Potter was having a shitty day; the Auror's office wasn't getting anywhere close with closing the Macnair case. He had personally travelled all the way to Germany last year and led the chase in the capture of the suspected death eater. Now that they were back, he had to be trialed and Albus was growing impatient with the progress of the case. If he had it his way, he would have thrown the man into Azkaban the moment he caught him.

They were currently working together with the law department to try and close the case as soon as possible. And as luck would have it, Anna Duncan's team was asked to take on the case. Albus even teased Scorpius that he actually got to see his friend's girlfriend more than he did nowadays and that he and Anna might as well hook up.

He twirled his wand as he watched the rain pour heavily against the side of the building. _Yeah you can say that again, shitty day._

"Al, do you mind taking this file to the law office, I'm backed up with papers for the next week and this is for the Macnair case," Elizabeth Miller, the office secretary said.

Albus immediately brightened. "Sure thing Liz, anything for you," he winked. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and went back to the hall but Albus was sure he caught a smile from her before she left.

He decided to get it over with quickly since it was almost time to leave; he wasn't even sure if Anna would still be there. By the time he reached the other side of the ministry, there was a rush of workers walking against him, all trying to leave for the day. Deciding that it would be easier and quicker to just leave it with the secretary instead of running around the law department looking for Anna when everyone was trying to leave, Albus sprinted to the front desk.

Unfortunately for him, the desk was empty. _Wow, she must really hate this job if she leaves right on the dot, _Albus thought to himself as he looked at the clock, 5:00 on the dot. He took one look into the maze that was the law department and sighed. He really wanted to leave himself but he knew that if the file was lost because he was too lazy to hand it in directly, Liz would be in big trouble. Pushing through the two glass doors, Albus made the journey to Anna's office. _Shitty day: 3, Albus Potter: 0_

After what seemed like forever, _he was sure he passed that painting with the wizard eating an apple at least four times, _Albus finally found the door with Anna Duncan written on it. He was about to open and fall through the door with joy for finding her office but something suddenly made him stop.

Albus froze, his eyes were wide open, and he thought that his ears were playing tricks on him. _Anna's not really…no it couldn't be, _Albus thought. But as he continued to listen from the door, he couldn't deny it any longer.

The words were imprinted into his mind, "Yes Carter, yes!" as the sounds of two bodies rolling over a desk replayed in his mind before a string of profanities fell from his mouth and he stormed into the room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Albus yelled, not caring at all if he was about to ruin someone's day, because this had to top the list of shitty things on this _very _shitty day.

* * *

_**Scorpius' POV (Present)**_

"How long has it been going on?" Scorpius asked in a stony voice, he no longer had the energy to give any emotions.

When she didn't answer, "How long?" Scorpius screamed.

"Scorpius, please," Anna pleaded.

"If you're not going to talk, I'm leaving," Scorpius motioned to get off the couch.

"Three months!" Anna quickly said as she reached to stop him from getting up.

Scorpius immediately shrugged her hand away but sat down once more.

"So all those times you said you needed to be at work or those times you were late for our dates, you were with him," Scorpius said, it wasn't a question.

"Please don't leave me," Anna started.

Scorpius continued to stare blankly at his shoes, his elbows resting on his thighs. As Anna pleaded with him for the next five minutes, all he could think about was _that_ day thirteen years ago. When he finally looked up again, he looked straight into her eyes and asked, "Why?"

"It was a mistake. I…I was just so stressed and we wouldn't see each other for days at a time and there was just so much pressure at work. Carter was just there. And I…I honestly don't know," she said in a shaky voice.

Scorpius snorted before shaking his head and standing up. "If you don't know, then I honestly don't know why I would stay." As he approached the door, he looked back at her one last time, "Don't ever come near me again."

For the next week and a half, Scorpius locked himself in his flat and drunk himself into a stupor. His friends had come over to cheer him up, and even tried to take him out to the club like the old days but nothing got through to him. It wasn't until Albus and Wes noticed Scorpius' behavior that they went to get Astoria Greengrass.

Upon seeing his mother, all the memories came flooding back. Astoria immediately held her son, knowing the unhappy events that happened many years ago had affected Scorpius greatly through out his life and this was one of them.

_Scorpius was twelve when his parents divorced. It was his second year at Hogwarts when he had been called into the Headmistress' office during one of his classes one day. He looked worriedly at his friends, afraid that one of their pranks had been caught. That was the only thing a twelve year old should be worried about; but it wasn't. _

_As he recited the password to the gargoyle, the old statue twisted to reveal a set of hidden steps. Hesitantly, the twelve year old walked up the steps, which led to a pair of old wooden doors. It was slightly cracked open; Scorpius decided to take a peek before he entered, just in case. But before he could see anything, the old and stern voice of Headmistress McGonagall echoed through the room and told him to come in._

_He gave her a nervous smile as he entered, he didn't know how she knew he was standing outside but it unnerved him a bit. However, one look at the two people behind her and he knew McGonagall was the least of his worries. "Mum? Dad?" Scorpius asked as he wondered what his parents were doing at his school. He took in the tired look of his father while his mother just sat limply on the chair without any emotion in her eyes but he could see that her normally vibrant blue eyes had been shedding tears._

_It had taken him years to accept what his father had told him that day in the room with his mother. For months, he cried in his bed, he felt vulnerable and for some reason or another, that it was his fault his parents were divorcing. Years later, he would think back to those months and call himself weak and that he was never going to cry again._

After his mother left that day, Scorpius was reminded of how twisted the world really was. And he hated himself for being weak and giving in to everything he had once said was silly. "Never again," Scorpius mumbled.

* * *

At seven in the morning, like clockwork, Scorpius got up. He showered and made sure every surface of his skin was clean before he moved on to his hair. Yes, his most valuable feature. He raised the comb and smoothed out the strands, parting them to the left. When he was satisfied with their positions, he moved into his closet. White shirt, green tie, black robes, black shoes, wristwatch; and then he apparated away.

"Hi, can I buy you a drink?" Scorpius asked with a charming smile.


	5. An Eventful Friday Night

**Chapter 5- An Eventful Friday Night**

On Friday night, Scorpius celebrated his 25th birthday with his friends that he'd known since he was 11. There was Wes, who just had a baby with his wife Lisa; Lucas the prankster whose job ironically was in the department of magical equipment control; Dwayne was a salesman for quidditch equipment; and Al, his best mate. Scorpius had other friends but the quartet were the only ones he wanted to spend his birthday with. Well, in reality, Scorpius hadn't wanted to spend his birthday with anyone, except maybe a bottle of really good Scotch but his mates didn't let it happen.

"Cheer up mate, at least you're not changing nappies like Wes is," Lucas joked.

Wes smirked, "You're next."

"Charlie and I aren't even married, we're just dating," Lucas defended.

"So why were you looking at rings the other day?" Dwayne asked.

Lucas threw a killing stare at his friend and turned back to Wes, "That doesn't mean we'll be having kids anytime soon."

Wes ignored Lucas and looked at Scorpius, "Speaking of dating, how's yours going?"

Scorpius snorted, he hadn't had any serious relationships ever since that whole incident last year with Anna and he sure as hell wasn't thinking of jumping into another one, ever. He didn't answer and instead, took a sip of his firewhiskey, savoring the burning sensation that clung to his throat.

"Liz still hasn't forgiven you?" Scorpius asked Albus, ignoring the fact that Wes had just asked him a question.

Albus wrinkled his nose and Scorpius chuckled. The Auror was helplessly in love with the office's secretary Elizabeth but the woman was anything but interested. She didn't find his messy hair and lop sided grin appealing like so many other girls did.

Last week, Albus had attempted to ask Elizabeth out for lunch but the secretary said she was too busy with paperwork, her usual excuse for rejecting Albus. In an effort to surprise her, Albus took it upon himself to "help" with the paperwork by filing them for her. When Liz got back to the office, she screamed at Albus because he had unintentionally set her back even more. The bloke filed things by alphabetical order when in fact the Auror's office filed things in their own numerical system.

Scorpius had laughed at his friend's face when Albus recalled the incident during drinks the night after. "She still won't talk to me," Albus replied.

As the night continued, Wes had to leave early because he promised his wife he wouldn't party out too late. Surprisingly, Albus had also said he had to leave. When Scorpius asked him why, his friend only replied with a quick, "family meeting." He didn't ask further, whenever there was a _family meeting _for the Potters and Weasleys, it was always a huge hugs and kisses affair. Scorpius didn't understand how the large brood could stand each other for so long; in fact, Albus was the only member that he could ever stand. The rest were unbearable, especially Albus' red headed cousin Rose Weasley.

* * *

_**Albus' POV**_

Albus immediately apparated to the Burrow after leaving the Leaky Cauldron. He would have stayed with his friends if it hadn't been for Rose. His cousin had sent him a letter a few days ago asking him to come to the Burrow on Friday because she had big news to tell everyone. As he entered the oddly shaped house, his mother greeted him, "Al! How are you sweetie, have you been eating well?"

Albus rolled his eyes; his mother was turning more like his Nana as the days went on. "M'fine Mum," Albus replied.

"What's Rosie up to?" Albus asked the moment he spotted his younger sister, Lily.

She crossed her arms, "She won't tell me!" Albus chuckled; he knew how much it angered Lily whenever someone kept something from her. But then again, he couldn't blame them. Lily was the family gossip, the girl knew everything about everyone; but apparently Rose had her stumped this time.

"Hush Lils, you'll find out soon," Rose said as she entered the room before giving Albus a hug.

"So what does my favorite cousin have to tell us?" Albus whispered as they hugged. Rose had always been Albus' favorite cousin. For one, they were the same age and for another, they were always there for one another. The only thing that they disagreed on was Albus' friendship with Scorpius Malfoy. It was hard getting through school when your cousin and best mate didn't get along but Albus had done his best to stop the two from killing each other.

Rose chuckled, "You're almost as bad as Lily."

Albus pouted and feigned hurt before the rest of the family entered the room. He looked around the room and saw his entire family; there was Bill's family along with Teddy. It was funny since he had grown up with Teddy as his surrogate older brother but nowadays; Teddy was more associated with his Uncle's family since he married Victoire. Charlie was noticeably missing but that wasn't much of a surprise; Percy's family were sitting impeccably straight, looking as if someone had stringed their bodies like puppets. Except for Lucy, much to her father's dismay, she wasn't anything like him. Some would call her the dark sheep of the family.

As Albus continued to the right, he spotted George's family before finally landing on Rose's and his own family. Granddad and Nana were sitting at the center of the circle and everyone looked anxious in hearing what Rose had to say. It must have been important if it couldn't wait until Christmas dinner.

There was a moment of silence before Rose finally spoke. "Grant and I are engaged!"

Albus could see the intake of breath his Uncle Ron suddenly had before all the women of the family started squealing and hugging Rose. Albus went up to hug his cousin once again to congratulate her. He was happy she was going to be with Grant. Albus had met Grant Barnes a year ago after Rose was pictured with him in Witch Weekly. It was a common thing for the paparazzi to hound his family for photos but when Lily told him about it, he was determined to scare off the bloke. It was just this protective older brother complex that seemed to resonate a lot with the Potter and Weasley men. After spending some time with Grant, he thought that he wasn't so bad after all.

"Why wasn't I asked permission for your hand in marriage?" Ron ask.

"RONALD!" Hermione exclaimed before looking sympathetically at her daughter.

Ron just shrugged and mumbled something about "what happened to tradition?"

After the whole announcement, Molly Weasley insisted the whole gang stick around for a late dinner. The women had all crowded around Rose asking her about the details when Hermione suddenly asked where Grant was.

"Oh, he's at home. He has a big presentation tomorrow so I let him sleep but I just couldn't wait to tell you guys," Rose replied.

"Lazy tosser," Ron murmured from the other side and was reprimanded with another stern "RONALD" from his wife.

"She heard that?" Ron asked in an incredulous tone.

Albus chuckled and patted his Uncle's back, "Don't worry, Aunt Hermione isn't the only woman who has super hearing. Mum has it too."

"Al!" his mother called.

Albus' back immediately stiffened; _bullocks, she heard him._ But when he turned around, he was met with James and Fred laughing their bottoms off. His brother and cousin had managed to trick him once again, faking Ginny Potter's voice.

"James!" his _real _mother's voice rang from the kitchen. This time, it was Albus' turn to laugh his arse off as he watched the horror in his brother's eyes.

Turned out Ginny only needed him to carry some food onto the table.

* * *

_**Scorpius' POV**_

Scorpius chuckled as he watched Albus pull out his puppy dog eyes on Elizabeth. His friend slumped his shoulders when the woman left. When Albus spotted Scorpius, he smiled before shrugging. "Still haven't forgiven you has she?" Scorpius asked.

"No," Albus responded sadly. "I even got her a box of chocolates but she threw them back in my face and said I was trying to kill her! I mean why would I want to kill her?" he said while throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Women, so complicated," Albus continued.

"Maybe she's allergic to them," Scorpius easily offered.

Albus' eyes immediately widened before he slapped his hand on his forehead. "Bloody hell! I completely forgot about that!"

Scorpius chuckled, his friend was hopeless, he didn't know anything about getting a girl. _Rule 4- never buy them gifts, only drinks._

"Damn, I was really hoping to ask Liz to be my date for the wedding," Albus muttered.

"Wedding?" Scorpius asked and arched his brow.

"Oh right, Rose is getting married. That's what the family meeting was about last Friday," Albus replied.

Scorpius snorted before Albus threw him a look. "I know you two hate each other but can't you at least cut me some slack?"

He shrugged as they continued to walk. "You know sometimes, I think you two are made for each other; you both drive me crazy with your bickering," Albus joked.

Scorpius scrunched his nose, "Don't even joke about that." Rose Weasley would be the last person he would ever be seen with. He hated her guts and her know it all attitude with a passion. The only reason why they hadn't killed each other during school was because of Albus.

* * *

Scorpius was the picture of perfection as he strutted into his mother's house. Astoria Greengrass was having a party with her friends and she had insisted that Scorpius join her. "There's going to be a lot of girls," she had said in a singsong voice.

He couldn't have cared less about there being girls at the party. But he knew his mother was only doing this because of what happened last year. She wanted him to date again and believe in _love _even though it had stabbed him in the heart. But Scorpius also knew how much it had brought back unpleasant memories for his mother so he decided to come for her sake.

Scorpius had been asked to wear a suit instead of robes because his mother had quite a few muggle friends who might have thought it was odd for everyone to be wearing robes. So here he was, strutting down the stairs in a fitted maroon suit that most men wouldn't dare to wear where as he had made it look sexy. His confidence was unmatched by any and that was part of the trick.

"Oh there you are Scorpius," his mother exclaimed as she run to give him a hug before she introduced him to her friends.

"Well, go mingle, I'll be in the living room if you need anything," she said.

Scorpius nodded before heading to the bar. After half an hour, he had been offered at least six different numbers. Most of them would just end up at the bottom of his waste bin; like he said, never again.

He was soon joined by a group of guys who looked around his age but who only had half the style he had. They were mostly dressed in oversized suits, trying to play off all the desperateness they had in trying to find a girl. Scorpius felt sorry for the blokes who had obviously never been educated on how to dress themselves let alone getting a girl.

Scorpius continued to watch their pathetic attempts from the side; it was quite entertaining and preferable to chatting with his mother's friends or their daughters. One guy attempted to ask a blonde for her name but was rejected after 5 seconds. Scorpius chuckled before sipping on his Scotch. However, when the man heard him laughing, he didn't take it so lightly. "Having a good laugh are we? Let's see you do better."

"You wouldn't want me to," Scorpius replied nonchalantly.

The man crossed his arms along with a few others who had decided to listen in on the conversation. "Why? Scared that I'm right?" the man coaxed.

"I don't want to make you look even more foolish than you already are. Trust me, I'm doing you a big favor by not showing off," Scorpius said coolly.

The man laughed along with the others, "Yeah okay Romeo, whatever you say."

Scorpius wasn't one to show off when it came to those who were less fortunate than him but he felt the need to put this fool in his place. He wouldn't need to do much though. Scorpius shrugged before he leaned against the bar with his hands in his pockets. He looked around the room, searching for the most attractive girl he could find; just to make it that much more fun when this was over.

He ended up going with the brunette that was standing next to the mantle, chattering with some friends. He made sure that he had caught her eye and immediately went to work in trying to seduce her with purely his eyes. It wasn't even two minutes before the girl excused herself from her friends and made her way over to him.

"Care to get me a drink?" the girl asked as she stood close to him.

Scorpius chortle and didn't make any moves. He continued to act nonchalant, "Care to tell me why you're here?"

"Hmm, maybe after you get me that drink," she said in a husky voice.

"Couldn't resist my charm?" Scorpius arched his brow. The girl suddenly broke into giggles before feeling him up.

"So are you going to get me that drink or not?" she whispered.

Scorpius looked over to the guys who now had their jaws on the floor as they watched the girl flirt. _Pathetic. _He smirked before he turned back to the girl, "Not." Without another word, he detached himself from her and walked away, leaving her to whine about being rejected.

* * *

A/N: I'm totally playing Scorpius up. I want him to seem like this perfect looking guy who can pull off everything he does. I hope you guys can see it as well and not think that he's too much of a jerk at the same time. As always, please review!


	6. Real Intentions

**Chapter 6- Real Intentions**

On Tuesday morning, Scorpius was joined by Lucas, Dwayne and Albus in the field to play some quidditch. Wes unfortunately was held up with daddy and husband duties so could not join the rest of them.

"Man, soon it's only going to be the three of us," Dwayne said as he pointed to himself, Albus and Scorpius.

Lucas chuckled, "I'm still going to come, Wes is just a wuss."

"Keep dreaming mate," Dwayne countered. Lucas had asked Charlie to marry him last month and they were now planning a wedding. It would seem as if girls were slowly dwindling their group down. Scorpius wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being the lone man standing after all of this.

"Hey, how are the broom sales going?" Albus asked Dwayne.

Dwayne shrugged, "Booming; I'm going to be traveling a lot now."

"Do me a favor and pick up some chicks on the way. I'll just live the single life through you," Lucas joked.

Dwayne snorted, "Yeah if I had time for that, don't you think I'd already have a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, but wouldn't that just be ruddy awesome? Picking up girls on the job. Hell wouldn't it be something if it _was_ your job to date girls?" Lucas asked with a chuckle.

Albus smiled smugly at Scorpius' direction, that was precisely what the blond did with his life. "Yeah, wouldn't that be something, Scorp?"

Scorpius smirked. He couldn't imagine how the rest of his friends would feel if they knew what his job really entailed.

"Hey if you two can stop being gay for each other, can we get back to the game?" Lucas joked when he noticed the glances between Scorpius and Albus after his previous statement. This promptly earned him a big smack on the back of his head.

After the morning game, Lucas and Dwayne left as Scorpius and Albus sat for some coffee at the local bakery. Scorpius offered to fetch the coffee so Albus set off to find a table.

"Finally! Where did you go, Africa?" Albus said as he snatched the coffee from Scorpius, after waiting fifteen minutes for them.

Scorpius threw a nod towards the barista who currently, had unknowingly spilt the drink she was making while she stared dreamily at him. He made sure to throw a wink at her for her troubles. "Just brushing up on my skills," Scorpius simply said.

Albus chuckled, "What did you say to her? She looks like she's about to faint."

"She asked how strong I wanted my coffee," Scorpius explained.

"Said not too strong, her scent was enough to keep me running all day," he finished.

Albus shook his head, "I think you might have just gotten her fired from the job."

Scorpius turned around and noticed an older woman who looked like the manager, yelling at the young barista for ruining all the orders. He turned back to Albus with a smirk, "Guess I should go fix that."

After a few minutes, Scorpius had returned with a smug grin. Albus looked at the counter again, this time, there were two women who were staring dreamily at Scorpius as he sauntered back to the table.

Albus shook his head, "cheeky git."

"What can I say? The ladies love me," Scorpius said calmly as if it wasn't suppose to be a joke.

By the time Scorpius had finished his coffee, he was seriously beginning to wish he had asked for a stronger brew. Albus had spent the entire time complaining about his cousin's upcoming nuptials and how he had to be one of the groomsmen and help plan stag night. Scorpius wanted to point out that he didn't give a rat's arse if Albus was suffering but then again, he wouldn't have wished Rose Weasley as a cousin on anyone; that was just cruel.

* * *

Scorpius was on another mission trying to break up a couple. He had his arm around the girl and was lounging on the leather seats in the back as he lazily searched the room for anything that could have made the night move faster. Getting the girl to drink wasn't hard, but waiting for her to become drunk was. It was usually a tedious process and judging for the lack of intelligible comments she made earlier, he had no intention of engaging a conversation with her while she was on her way to becoming drunk. So he opted to keep her attention by letting her lean on him while he caressed her. Judging for the amount of times she giggled, he was in good shape to close the deal before the night ended.

Still, he needed something stimulating to keep himself awake; and that's when he heard them. Normally, he would have ignored it; it was just a group of drunken guys making a scene. But something about their conversation caught his attention.

"Oi Grant, when are you going to close the deal," one of the guys slurred.

The brunet who Scorpius presumed to be Grant answered, "All in good time mate. She wants a fall wedding and what the lady wants, the lady gets."

"Bugger, you're going to have to wait three more months before you can ride the gravy train," another guy added.

Grant smirked, "Don't forget, I still have to stay with her for a while to make it look good."

"When are you going to end it?" his friend asked.

"Let's see, the honeymoon phase should take one or two months. Then another three months of normalcy. Add in one or two more months for it to fall apart; I'll give it maybe half a year," Grant calculated.

His friends chuckled, "She won't know what hit her."

"You're a genius mate. Making the road to fame look easy," another one exclaimed. The group then proceeded to clank their glasses together in their drunken state.

"No but really, how did you do it mate?" one of them asked.

"Do what?" Grant asked.

"Get her to fall in love with you," the friend replied.

Grant grinned, "Charm."

Scorpius smirked at the guy's response. Now this was the type of guy who could compete at his level. Too bad Scorpius was still better; only an amateur would tell the whole world what they were planning to do. He did feel a little bad for the poor girl who was going to have her heart crushed but it was her fault for believing that the bloke loved her. But the feeling quickly dissipated, _celebrities just weren't that bright._

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Albus asked Scorpius as he made his way down the elevator in the ministry.

"Working in the department of games for a week," Scorpius said with a knowing look.

Albus shook his head, "How the ruddy hell do you get these girls to hire you?"

Scorpius shrugged, "I've got my ways. Up for a drink?"

Albus checked his watch. "Crap, I can't, I have to meet Rose's fiancé to have some _bonding _time," he rolled his eyes as he put quotation marks around the term _bonding._

"Ask him to join us then," Scorpius offered in a bored tone. He desperately needed a drink after today. Marcy, the mission, was not an easy woman to deal with and if he was going to get through the next week, he needed some alcohol to keep his sanity.

"I don't want to burden you," Albus said hesitantly but Scorpius could see that his friend hadn't really meant it.

Scorpius waved him off and Albus proceeded to find his future cousin-in-law in the lobby of the ministry. Scorpius decided to lean against the fountain as Albus walked around to get a better view. After about ten minutes, Scorpius saw Albus come his way, followed by a man with curly brown hair.

"Scorp, this is Grant, Rose's fiancé; Grant this is Scorpius, one of my best mates," Albus introduced the two.

"Have we met before? I feel like I've seen you before; family meeting?" Grant asked as the two shook hands.

Albus chuckled, "Scorp never goes to any of my family gatherings, not that I blame him."

"Ah, my mistake; I just remember your friend Wes from the last time your Gran invited the family for dinner," Grant offered.

"Yeah Scorp and Rose aren't exactly the best of friends," Albus continued.

"Shame," Grant said with a smile.

Scorpius was too tired to contribute to the conversation so he led the way to the Leaky Cauldron where they ordered three bottles of firewhiskey. Albus had offered to pay since he felt bad for the whole situation, not that either Grant or Scorpius complained about the other's company.

"So what do you do for a living Scorpius?" Grant asked.

Scorpius snorted, "Don't ask questions and I won't lie to you." That was usually his philosophy when it came to strangers trying to prod about his life; incidentally, it was also _Rule 6_.

Grant chuckled, "I can see why you and Rose wouldn't exactly get along."

"Yeah, that's Rose; she wants to know and control everything," Albus said with a roll of his eyes.

"That's fine by me, I like strong women," Grant supplied.

Scorpius snorted, he suddenly remembered why Grant thought he looked familiar. Normally, he would have usually let the comment go but the firewhiskey had loosened his mouth and he suddenly found himself spilling his thoughts. "Strong women or just famous women?" Scorpius asked.

If Grant had been shaken by the question, he didn't show it; instead the man went on to look utterly confused and looked to Albus for the answer. Albus didn't know what his friend was mumbling about either and just shrugged. After that, the conversation strayed far away from jobs and Rose and focused on quidditch. At about ten, Grant called it a night and excused himself.

"Grant's not that bad right?" Albus asked Scorpius after he had left.

"Why the hell should I care?" Scorpius said as he focused on his drink.

"I wonder if he could talk Rose into letting me out of planning the stag party," Albus pondered.

Scorpius smirked, "Oh I'm sure he could."

Albus grinned, "You think so? Weddings bore the hell out of me."

Scorpius chuckled, "Weasley would probably change the fall wedding into a summer wedding if he asked."

"How do you know the wedding is in the fall?" Albus asked as he furrowed his brow. He hadn't remembered telling Scorpius about the wedding at all since he knew how much Scorpius didn't get along with Rose and wouldn't have cared.

"She's his ticket to his fifteen minutes of fame," Scorpius said cryptically.

Albus suddenly shook with anger and grabbed Scorpius by the collar, "What did you say?"

"He's only in it for the fame. Said he'd dump Weasley in six months," Scorpius replied nonchalantly. It honestly wasn't his place to care.

"He told you that?" Albus asked as he squinted his eyes at Scorpius as if to see if he was joking about the whole thing.

"Practically told the whole bar; wasn't exactly keeping the whole thing quiet last week," Scorpius said as he pushed Albus off and straightened his collar.

Albus immediately darted off the stool and left the bar. But Scorpius didn't have it in him to care what was going to happen. Instead, he stayed and continued to sip his firewhiskey while a group of women eyed him from the other side.

He watched as the bartender offer the three of them each a drink before pointing at Scorpius. When the women turned to face Scorpius, he just winked before leaving enough galleons for four drinks.

_It was going to be a very productive night and tiresome morning that followed._

* * *

A/N: As I mentioned before this fic will be mostly from Scorpius' POV, hence, the lack of Rose thus far but Scorpius and Rose encounter will happen soon so bear with me. I wanted the first few chapters to be solely on Scorpius just to give a background into who he is and a bit of why he is that way and also what he does for a living (obviously a big part of the plot). These chapters are setting up the part for Rose (just without Rose's POV because again, this is mainly a Scorpius POV fic). But since you've all been so wonderful to me, I will say that next chapter has a Rose POV but the real action is in two chapters so stay tuned! Reviews are most appreciated!_  
_


	7. Cornered

**Chapter 7**

**Rose's POV**

Rose took one look at her couch and she was ready to collapse. The hospital was hectic today, but then again, when was a hospital ever peaceful. Rose mainly worked in the Potions and Plant Poisoning ward; she had been particularly gifted in herbology and potions at Hogwarts. There had been a severe case of babbling in the hospital. A group of people came in and started talking very oddly. At first, the Healers had thought that they were just foreigners and contacted the ministry for translators. Finally after an hour of incessant babbling from the group, Rose figured that they had ingested Babbling beverage. The antidote had been easy enough but she couldn't erase the headache that had now been imprinted.

She shuffled toward her orange couch and fell face first onto it. It was a good thing that she had convinced Albus to take Grant out on a guy's night. After about twenty minutes, she figured that she should take her sleep to the bed; she didn't want a sore neck for tomorrow's shift. Slowly as to not make herself nauseous Rose stood up and staggered toward the bedroom.

As she raised her arms to take off her shirt, Rose caught a whiff of herself and made a disgruntled face. She had forgotten about the incident with that drunkard who came in. Rose had to administer the pepper up potion but right after he took it, everything came up and it all splattered on her. Seeing that she was already up, she decided she might as well take a shower.

She let the warm water glide down her head all the way to her toes, her untamable red hair easily withering under the water. She could feel her muscles relaxing under the steady stream of water and she couldn't help but think about how happy she was in her life. Rose had a good job, one that she'd been working towards her whole life, a loud but wonderful family and the man she loved. She was going to be married in just over a month for Merlin's sake; if anyone had a picturesque life, it was Rose right now.

When she got out of the showers, she threw her hair in a towel and made her way into the bedroom. She was surprised to find Grant home already, lying there in bed, reading the late edition of the Daily Prophet. However, when she took a look at the clock, she was surprised that it was actually quite late. He smiled when he spotted her exiting the bathroom.

"How did it go with Al?" Rose asked as she walked toward her wand and magically dried her hair.

"It was great. The three of us had a good time," Grant said as he put down the paper and gestured for Rose to join him on the bed.

Rose scrunched her nose, "The three of you?" She was under the impression that it was only Albus.

"Yeah uh, it was me, Albus and that blond bloke…" Grant said, trying to remember the name of Albus' best mate.

Rose chuckled, Grant always had a bad memory when it came to names; it took him months to actually learn all the names of her relatives. In fact, she was sure he still didn't remember some of them. Rose concluded that it must have been Louis; he was the only blond male in the Weasley and Potter clan. "Well I'm glad you had fun," Rose said as she climbed into bed and kissed Grant.

Rose draped her arms around Grant and leaned in for a deeper kiss, "I can't wait until we're married."

Grant smiled into the kiss, "Me neither."

* * *

**Albus' POV**

He had initially wanted to apparate to Rose's flat and pummel Grant into a pulp for toying with Rose. The idea that her supposed fiancé was only marrying her to gain fame angered Albus greatly. However, Albus was never one to act on impulse and he needed to be sure that what Scorpius had said was true. He didn't want to ram head first into accusations only for them to be false and for Rose to hate him for trying to ruin her life. _Scorpius did have quite a few to drink._

Albus decided that he would observe his cousin and fiancé to see if there was anything quirky about it all. He didn't need Rose shouting at him, her temper was only rivaled by his mum and Merlin knew he didn't like being at the receiving end of one of his mum's long rants. Thankfully, it was James who took the brunt of it for his stupid pranks.

"Al!" Rose called from the door.

Albus lifted his head from his work and saw his cousin standing by his door. "Rosie, what are you doing here?"

"Oh Grant and I have a lunch date. I was going to go see him but thought I'd drop by your office to say thanks for the other night. Grant said he had a great time," Rose replied.

Albus nodded dumbly, he was surprised that Rose hadn't complained about Scorpius being there but if she wasn't going to bring it up, he wasn't going to start. Just as she began to leave, Albus called her, "Hey, do you think we can talk later?"

"Sure Al. Although you'll probably have to take a number, I'm swamped with work this week. This is probably my last lunch I will enjoy," Rose joked.

"Mind if I join you guys then?" Albus asked abruptly and grabbed his robe.

He mentally slapped himself for being so upfront and butting into her lunch date but he needed to make sure. He could see that Rose was shocked but she obliged nonetheless. That was another thing about Rose, even though she was short tempered, she was programmed to be polite. _The irony._ He had his Aunt Hermione to thank for that. Without another word, the two walked toward the sports department where Grant worked.

"Al, what a surprise. Is there something you need?" Grant asked when the two of them made it to his office.

"Al decided to join us for _our_ lunch date," Rose cut in.

Albus shrugged his shoulders nervously, this was definitely going to come back and bite him in the arse later.

Thankfully, Grant didn't seem to mind. "Couldn't get enough of me?" he joked.

_Arrogant git, _Albus thought as they left. He trailed behind the couple as they made their way to the restaurant. Grant had his hand on the small of Rose's back the whole time.

"So Grant, what do you do at your job?" Albus asked during the meal.

Rose threw him an awkward look but Grant chuckled, "Promote quidditch and organize games among many other things."

"And would you say that that's what you want to do for the rest of your life?" Albus asked.

Grant shrugged, "Sure, I like it enough."

"So you don't aspire to be anything else?" Albus continued to ask.

Grant chuckled, "How do you mean?"

"Like…" Albus started but was promptly cut off with Rose clearing her throat.

"Al, can I talk to you alone for a moment?" Rose gritted between her teeth as she eyed Albus with a deathly stare.

"What the hell was that about?" Rose asked angrily when they made it outside.

Albus rubbed his neck and looked around, "What do you mean Rosie?"

"Don't Rosie me! You were interrogating him like he was one of your criminals," Rose countered.

"Can't a bloke get to know his future cousin-in-law better?" Albus asked.

"Sure, when you're not busy interrupting our lunch date!" Rose exclaimed.

Albus looked down, "Look Rosie, I'm sorry about butting in but…"

"Is this because you think Grant will take your place?" Rose asked, seemingly losing her wrathful look and replacing it with sympathy.

Albus looked confused but didn't have time to correct her because Rose had pulled him in for a hug. "Don't worry Al, you'll always be my best friend."

"Um, you too Rosie," Albus replied awkwardly.

After a few seconds, they let go. "Al, I'm happy, I'm really happy. And Grant is the reason why, so go easy on him, please?" Rose asked while she looked at him with her puppy dog eyes.

Albus sighed, that was it. She had said that Grant made her happy and Albus couldn't bring himself to say anything else. Maybe it was just all a misunderstanding, maybe Scorpius saw someone else. Albus took a look around Rose and spotted Grant sitting inside. When he saw them, he smiled and waved to the two of them. _Damn, why does that git always look so happy. _Albus resolved that Grant was probably in love with Rose as well and it was all just a misunderstanding. He decided he wasn't going to tell her about his concerns. Rose waved to Grant before turning back to Albus.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid Al," Rose asked.

"I promise," Albus replied.

The two cousins hugged one last time before Albus excused himself and let the couple enjoy the rest of their lunch alone.

* * *

**Scorpius' POV**

Scorpius was woken up by the noise from his window. He took a look at the clock and saw that it was only 6:30. He looked over at his window and saw the tawny bird pecking mercilessly at his window. Scorpius dragged his body off of his bed and opened the window to let it in. The owl stayed, the sender probably wanted a prompt response.

_I heard from a past client of yours of your services. I would like to extend an offer. Instructions will be sent after you agree to take the job. A simple agreement on this parchment will suffice. _

Scorpius furrowed his brow. This was the first time he had received a job without any clues as to who he was suppose to break up. There wasn't even a name from the sender or a time and place to meet to discuss the circumstances. Intrigued and never one to back down, Scorpius scribbled his reply of accepting the job and sent it off with the owl.

He took one more look at the clock, 6:35. Scorpius sighed, he might as well start his day, he would have been up in 25 minutes anyway. He proceeded to take his morning shower and surprisingly, within the hour, Scorpius had gotten a reply from the sender. He hastily opened the letter to read the response.

_You have a month to break up Rose Weasley and Grant Barnes, before their wedding takes place. _

Scorpius almost laughed thinking it was a joke. Surely someone had to be high on euphoria elixir to suggest that he would even go within a foot of Rose Weasley if he had a choice. He was confident in his abilities, yes, but there was no amount of galleons that would convince him to take on a job of seducing Rose Weasley.

Scorpius threw the letter into the waste bin and proceeded to his kitchen. However, when he finished brewing his coffee, another owl awaited him. Scorpius walked over to the bird and pulled off the parchment. When he unfolded the paper, he couldn't believe his eyes.

_Binding Contract of Agreement_

_I, Scorpius Malfoy agree to fulfill the job of breaking up Rose Weasley and Grant Barnes for a payment of 0 galleons. Failure to comply will result in hazardous outcomes. _

Scorpius' eyes darted to the bottom where his signature was displayed. Shocked was not the word to describe what he was feeling. No, Scorpius felt like he had just been blindsided by a rogue bludger. How on earth did a contract get drawn up from a few owl exchanges within the last hour? And then it suddenly hit him that the first reply he had sent back was somewhat of a contract. The sender had made it particularly clear to reply using the same parchment.

"Son of bitch!"

* * *

A/N: Contract bit was made up by me. Hey what's a world of magic without a few made up things; just go with it okay? Let me know what you think.

Side-note: I recently started interning at a company and at first I didn't think it would take up much of my time so I decided not to mention it to you guys but I realized that it's actually taking up a lot of time and with the commute, by the time I get home I just want to eat, shower and go to sleep. Why am I telling you this? Well I know that I've been updating every 3-5 days so far but with this new job, I think I will only have time to write on weekends which means that updates will probably be slower in the 7-9 days range. Please bear with me, I know it's not ideal but such is life. A big thank you to those who have reviewed, favorited, alerted, or just anyone who's taken the time to read this story; I appreciate all the support!


	8. Speeches and Cheers

**Chapter 8- Speeches and Cheers**

"You've got to be kidding me," Scorpius snorted when he met his client. A week after receiving the arduous mission of breaking up Rose Weasley's engagement, Scorpius was finally allowed a meeting with the person who sent the letter.

"I don't look like I'm kidding, do I?" the client replied in a surprisingly calm voice.

Scorpius reached his hand up to his hair and swept it back before placing both of his hands onto the table. "You want me to break up your…"

"I want you to break them up. You said Grant was toying with her, did you not?" the client cut in.

"And why should I do this?" Scorpius questioned.

The client held up the contract, "You've got no choice."

Scorpius chuckled, "I always have a choice. Besides, I could take you to Wizengamot and tell them you tricked me into this and that I was unaware of the contract. You could loose your position you know?"

He watched as the client's face faltered a bit before resuming their stone exterior. "But you won't," they replied.

"And why wouldn't I?" Scorpius asked. He was amused so he decided to hear the client out.

"Why are you here then?" the client asked.

"I was curious to know who you were," Scorpius said as he pulled out his wand and started twirling it. "But you didn't answer my question; why should I do this instead of reporting you?"

"For one, you would be revealing your occupation. I'm not sure how business will continue if everyone knew what you did. And for another, I know how much you hate Rose," the client answered.

Scorpius trained his eyes on his wand as he continued twirling it before stopping abruptly. He stood up from the chair and threw his coat over his shoulders before he walked away. "For the record, hate is a strong word. Loath is a better, don't you think?" he said before smirking.

"I expect to be updated on your progress," the client called out.

Scorpius raised his hand up to acknowledge the comment before leaving.

* * *

Scorpius found himself getting ready like usual; except for the fact that everything about this mission was anything but usual. For one, he knew who the woman was and she knew who he was. For another, he was breaking up an engagement, not just any old relationship. And then there was the one tiny fact that Scorpius absolutely loathed the girl, as did she. This wasn't going to be an easy feat.

Throughout his whole shower, his mind wondered around her. Rose was surely smarter then most of the women he worked around; in fact, she was the only one who could keep up with him in school, if not better and she had let him know it as well. Scorpius couldn't stand the red headed Weasley. He couldn't exactly pinpoint when he had decided to take a disliking to her but it could be reasoned that it started the moment they saw each other when they were 11, standing on platform 9 ¾.

He realized that he was going to have to go about this in a whole different way. _I'm going to have to tell her what I'm doing, she'll figure that something is wrong anyway, _Scorpius thought. He fixed the last strand of hair before moving to his closet.

After picking out a nice tuxedo, he walked toward his nightstand and picked up the card. _You're invited to the engagement party of Rose Weasley and Grant Barnes. Party starts at 9pm. _

Scorpius took one last look into the mirror and snorted, "This should to be fun."

When Scorpius reached the club, he handed the invitation card to the bouncer. He had received the card the day before from his client. The party was an informal get together for Rose and Grant's friends to celebrate their engagement. The real engagement party was to be held later on with family and friends.

After he was let in, Scorpius took in the environment. He chortled, this was exactly how he had imagined Rose's party to be, even if it was an informal one, it was still prim and proper. And on top of that, it looked like someone vomited rainbows and unicorns onto the décor; it was only slightly better than Madam Puddifoot's tea shop.

Scorpius didn't see Rose right away but he wasn't worried. He walked to the bar and ordered himself a drink. He usually didn't drink on to job but again, this wasn't the usual run of the mill mission and there was no way he was getting through tonight without an ounce of alcohol.

A bunch of girls had approached him during the night but Scorpius had no interest. He was on a mission and there was no way he was going to be sidetracked. Besides, anyone who was a friend of Rose Weasley obviously had bad taste and he couldn't be bothered with them.

It was ten when the drunken speeches began. The room suddenly grew quiet for the first time tonight as their respective friends gave speeches. One of the men, Scorpius had recognized as Grant's friend. He remembered him from the night he overheard Grant's plan. A few more of his friend went before it was Rose's friends turn.

A brunette girl Scorpius recognized to be Kyle Adelson was who Rose's best friend spoke first. "Being a muggleborn, I was afraid of going to Hogwarts. What if people thought I was weird? I mean I thought I was weird, my parents named me after a made up anti-hero from a cartoon for Merlin's sake!" The room chuckled, most people were aware of the fact that Kyle's real name was Selina; her middle name was Kyle.

"But not Rose," Kyle continued. "She stuck by me and really made my assimilation into the wizarding world much easier. She's the best friend anyone could ever ask for; I love you Rosie. And I'm so happy you finally found someone to spend the rest of your life with."

Kyle turned to face Grant, "You better take care of my girl." Grant chuckled and smiled before Kyle turned back to the audience. "To Rose and Grant!" A round of cheers drowned the room before everyone applauded Kyle as she sat down.

Just as the room was returning to its previous state, there was a cling. Everyone turned to face the man who had clanged his glass. Scorpius rolled his eyes when he realized who it was. James Potter stood up and called everyone to his attention, apparently, the speeches weren't finished just yet.

"I just wanted to raise a toast to my dear cousin Rose," James started. Scorpius could see the hesitance in Rose's eyes; James was always the mischievous one in their family.

"I thought since Al couldn't make it tonight, I would do the honor of embarrassing Rose instead," James said as he winked. Rose notably sank in her seat as the rest of the room chuckled.

"Grant mate, I hope you buckle up, it's going to be a rough ride with our Rosie. Stubborn as nails she is, and she'll certainly make you feel stupid a lot of times. I remember when we were kids; there was a time when she absolutely refused to wear clothes except for a pillowcase. Aunt Hermione had just told her about elf rights and how if you gave an elf clothes, they would be freed. And Rose being…well Rose, decided she wanted to free all the elves so she took all of her clothes and planted them around the house. She didn't understand that elves wouldn't just come to her house and grab clothing to be freed. Of course, that meant that she didn't have any clothes left for herself."

Rose had yelped a "JAMES!" but the rest of the room erupted in laughter.

The laughter eventually calmed and everyone's attention was back on James. The man's eyes were twinkling but this time, it wasn't mischievous, it was showing admiration. "I've known Rose for all my life and pillowcase or not, she's the most passionate person I know. She may be stubborn but she's definitely worth it," James finished with a wink toward Rose. This time, Rose smiled.

The room become scattered again when the speeches had ended. James had left after telling Rose that he had to go and congratulated the couple. The ambiance had an easy feeling to it again, mostly because many of the guests were drunk. Scorpius decided it was time to make his move. Luckily, Rose had been busy all night and he managed to stay undetected by most.

Scorpius sat at the end of the bar, his arms folded on the table with one hand toying with his glass. He called the bartender over and said something very quickly before he turned back to face the task at hand.

He searched the room for her before his grey eyes zeroed in on the woman standing across from him. She had her back towards him but he didn't need to see her face to know that she was his target. After seven long years with her in school, her presence was, for lack of better words, undeniable. It could be the flaming red hair or the straight posture and dignity she carried herself in, but for him, all he needed to hear was her insufferable laugh and that was enough. Scorpius felt his eyes twitch and an internal cringe before he downed his drink in a single gulp and made his way over to the disgustingly loving couple.

Just as he approached, Grant had left to attend to the other guests. _Good, it will be less awkward this way._ "Weasley," he greeted, making sure that his voice was steady and nonchalant. When she responded to his sudden appearance, Scorpius could tell she was caught off guard. For one, the two never spoke to each other during their days at Hogwarts unless it was absolutely necessary and he wasn't exactly pleasant to her either; and for the more obvious reason, he was currently attending her engagement party.

"Malfoy?" she asked in shock although Scorpius could pick up the slight hint of spite that was now programmed into her tone whenever she spoke to him.

Scorpius smirked; he could tell she wasn't overjoyed to have this little reunion. But to be fair, this wasn't his idea either. He thought that when they graduated, he would no longer have to be in her _I'm more superior to everyone else because I'm smarter _presence; but he was wrong. And the person who had made this happen would surely get their just deserts as soon as this charade was over (even though he did consent to it willingly), but for now, he had to act like the professional he was.

"Come now Weasley, is that any way to greet a guest who's traveled all the way from his nice and comfortable home just to put up with this pathetic excuse of a party?" the words practically oozing off of his lips as if he'd rehearsed it at least a hundred times before trying it. Of course, this was Scorpius Malfoy and there was no practice needed.

Rose arched her eyebrow, one arm wrapped around her stomach while the other, with a cup twist in her hand, was held up close to her lips. "Why exactly is it that you're here Malfoy?"

Scorpius gave a low chuckle, "To seduce you of course."

"Excuse me?" Rose asked exasperatedly.

"You heard me," he said with a smirk.

He could see the red blush making its way up her cheeks before she slammed her cup down onto the bar table. Rose turn back towards him, this time, both arms crossed against her chest as she attempted to keep a stern face. "Did you hit your head or something because if you haven't noticed yet, this is my _engagement party_. And because you can't seem to grasp the concept, I'll tell it to you plain and simple; Get. Lost."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You really need to learn some manners. I'm sure the world will be flabbergasted to hear how rude Hermione Granger's daughter has been to an innocent guest," Scorpius replied coolly.

He watched as her Weasley temper took over. Over the years, Scorpius had learned that no matter how composed the Weasleys could be, their tempers were not to be overlooked. This was especially true for one Rose Weasley. The girl could spontaneously combust someone just by staring at them; fortunately, after years of having to endure her unwavering glares, he was immune.

Scorpius counted to five before he smiled smugly. He raised two fingers to the bartender behind her and in a matter of seconds; the man had produced two glasses of champagne. He handed one to Scorpius and the other to Rose. When she hadn't accepted the glass, the bartender left it on the table.

"You're anything but innocent, Malfoy," Rose said, each word roughly gritted through her teeth.

Scorpius ignored her comment and raised his glass to her with a smirk before taking in the entirety of the glass's contents. He pulled out more than enough galleons to cover the drinks from his pocket and placed it on the table with a slam. His next action were going to be physically taxing but he managed to smile and even threw in his signature wink for good measure before retreating from Rose's utterly confused figure.

As soon as he left the building, he felt the rush of fresh air hit his face. All the lovey dovey décor inside had been nauseating; he was just glad he got out before he had to vomit. Thankfully, the party wasn't crawling with the relatives or it would have been much harder. Scorpius pulled his wrist up and checked the time, 11:20; good at least he still had time to get a real drink somewhere more dignifying. As Scorpius prepared for apparition, he mentally placed a check next to the first part of mission. _Let her know what you're planning to do, CHECK._

* * *

A/N: And there we have it, the meet. I'm pretty sure this chapter isn't really anything new for those who followed from my preview snippet but I did add a few things so I hope you enjoyed that. Thanks for being patient and as always, leave a review and let me know what you think.


	9. A Day in the Lab

**Chapter 9- A Day in the Lab**

_**Rose's POV**_

Rose couldn't sleep that night. The somewhat cryptic words that Scorpius had said lingered in her mind. Grant had long drifted off to sleep the moment they returned to their flat but Rose was restless and she hated it. She hated that fact that he had managed to get into her head. He was always so arrogant in school; nothing had changed. But he had said he was going to _seduce _her; that was certainly a bold claim. _What's he playing at? _Rose thought.

It would have been one thing if he had just out right seduced her, she could have just slapped him but somehow, he'd managed to crawl under her skin. She wondered why after all this time, he would suddenly come into her life again just to play with her head. Sure, they'd had plenty of squabbles at school and she wasn't beneath starting things with him then but this was different, this was her life. After hours of trying to figure the whole thing out, Rose decided it was probably a good idea to catch some sleep before her shift started.

The next morning, Rose woke up in a haze. "Bugger, bugger, bugger," Rose muttered when she noticed the time. She was going to be late for her shift if she didn't leave soon. However, when she looked over at Grant sleeping peacefully, she instantly calmed. Last night, she had the most wonderful dream of her wedding and seeing him suddenly reminded her of how happy she was to have met him. His brown hair was curled atop his head as he continued to lay asleep on their bed. Rose quickly reached over and stroked his hair before kissing him.

Grant stirred as she kissed him. "Mmm, morning darling," he said as he kissed her before he began pulling her back into bed.

Rose giggled, "Grant, I can't. I'm late for work."

He kissed her one last time on her neck before she was finally allowed to pull away. "You should get up too," she said with a smile.

"Ah, but the bed is too comfy. And without my _fiancée_ on it anymore, I think I'll take advantage of the space," Grant said with a boyish smile as he attempted to take up the whole bed.

Rose shook her head before smiling, "I'm leaving."

Just before she crossed the door frame, Grant jumped up behind her and held her around the waist, kissing her once again, "Love you."

"I love you too," Rose chuckled before she finally left.

* * *

"Weasley! You're shift started ten minutes ago," Healer Powell yelled as soon as Rose arrived at the hospital.

Rose threw an apologetic smile at the old Healer's way. Healer Amelia Powell was the head of the hospital and was a stern woman. Those who knew her well called her Amy but the name sounded almost foreign to Rose's ear. It somehow made the woman less harmful, which Rose suspected was the reason why anyone who wasn't family or a close friend, was allowed to call her that. She was working in the hospital before Rose was even born and the woman still had a heck of a lot left in her. And although she would never say it out loud, she was someone Rose strived to be; strong and passionate.

Just as Rose turned to get to her office, Healer Powell called her again. Rose internally cringed at her name being called. In the time it took her to face the Healer again, a million thoughts went through her mind as to the numerous possibilities of why Healer Powell wanted to talk to her again. "Yes Healer Powell?" Rose answered in what she hoped was a strong voice.

"I want you to head the Potions department today after you're done with rounds," Amelia said.

Rose smiled and nodded before she was finally left alone. She was relieved that it wasn't anything serious. Since Rose excelled in potions, she was often asked to work with the potioneers as means of coordinating what the rest of the hospital needed. And if she had to say, it was one of her favorite things to do. Most of the time, she would take the time to brew some complicated potion and discuss findings with the rest of the potioneers. Research was something she loved to do.

Her rounds were pretty easy. It consisted of a few cases of plant bites and minor poisons that were easily reversed. By noon, she was done with her rounds and headed to the potions department.

"Hi Heather," Rose greeted the receptionist as she passed through the hall and into the potions department.

"Oh Rose, you're here. Healer Powell told me…" Heather started.

"Powell told me, I've got to get to work. Thanks!" Rose said as she rushed into the department.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't let Heather drag her into one of her endless rants; Rose really wanted to get to brewing potions.

When she entered the lab, she immediately saw April, one of the potioneers. April Grey was a big flirt which annoyed Rose to no end but she was efficient in potion making so she couldn't really say much about her. Rose looked around the room and scrunched her face. "April, where's Tom?" Rose asked.

April didn't look up but answered, "He went on vacation."

"What do you mean vacation? He didn't tell me about any vacation," Rose argued.

April shrugged. "He told Powell. Anyways, mentioned something about winning a trip for a month to Australia. Lucky bastard," she trailed off.

Rose sighed, Tom was the senior potioneer and Rose's gossip buddy. Most of the time, he kept her company while she worked in the lab and usually made fun of April behind her back for laughs. Now that Tom was on vacation, she would have to endure her shifts with April, without any barriers.

"Guess we'll have to pick up the slack," Rose offered as she settled into her station.

"Oh, no I forgot, Powell hired a temp. He's in the back room," April said, this time looking up. Rose noticed the dreamy look in her eyes as she said this.

"The bloke is fit as hell," April said again.

Rose rolled her eyes, great not only did she have to deal with April's usual antics but now there was a guy at work to provoke her behavior. "Keep your eyes on the potion, Grey.

April muttered something under her breath but Rose ignored her. She slipped on her magnifying spectacles as she measured the exact amount of ingredients. Working endless hours and reading other Healer's chicken scratch had an adverse effect on her eyes so she usually wore the spectacles while working with potions. Better safe than sorry, she always said. Luckily, she managed to transfigure the bottle cap clunks called magnifying spectacles into something more appealing; they looked like ordinary reading glasses. The only problem was she would occasionally forget to take them off and see everything up close and enlarged. One time she thought there was a giant snake in the room and knocked down half the flasks in her fright until it was revealed to only be a caterpillar.

After a few minutes, she heard footsteps from the backroom. "I'm Healer Weasley, I'm supervising the department today," she offered as a means of introducing herself, without looking up. It wasn't that she wanted to be rude but the man was only a temp and Tom would be back before she knew it. She didn't need another gossip buddy, especially one who April liked. Which roughly translated to the guy being a jerk.

"I know," the man said confidently; Rose could practically hear the smirk on his face as he said it. _Git._

"Yeah well make yourself busy," Rose said.

"And Grey, let's not get distracted shall we," Rose added as an afterthought. She didn't even have to look up to see that she was right, she heard the woman mutter once again.

The man chuckled but Rose ignored it. The only thing that bothered her was that the voice sounded oddly familiar. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

The lab was quiet for the most part, the occasional clanking of flasks and chopping of ingredients was norm but it was the way Rose liked it. However, throughout the afternoon, she couldn't help but sneak glances at the man. She wouldn't admit it but she was curious despite her nonchalant demeanor from earlier. And there was the fact that she didn't want April catching her staring; she would never hear the end to it. But the fact of the matter was, from the occasional glances, Rose had to admit, the man's features were very appeasing. She didn't get to see him as a whole because of her spectacles but she was able to see his defined jaws, his cool grey eyes and straight nose.

April soon announced that she was going to get lunch to which Rose only nodded in acknowledgment. She also attempted to ask the temp to join her but he refuse. Rose had smiled to that, _this bloke wasn't as bad as she thought if he was willing to refuse April. _

"Ah, I thought she would never leave," the man offered.

Rose chuckled, "I'm glad we're on the same page on that."

"Who would have thought, the day someone else made you cringe more than me Weasley," the man said, suddenly standing very close to her.

Rose suddenly jumped and swung her chair around to face the man. She pulled her spectacles off without hesitation and gasped. "Malfoy!" she said with venom.

Scorpius chuckled and walked around the table. "How the hell did you get Powell to hire you?" Rose asked as she eyed him with daggers.

"And here I thought you were actually enjoying my company," Scorpius said, ignoring her questions.

"Malfoy!" Rose said again.

"I'm charming, what can I say," he answered.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Rose asked.

Scorpius stirred the potion, "Making potions."

"Don't pull that bullshit with me. Why are you here Malfoy?" Rose snarled.

Scorpius rounded the table so that he was once again standing next to her. "I told you I was going to seduce you, didn't I?" he whispered.

Rose suddenly stood up to match his height, although he was still at least half a foot taller, and glared at him. "If you pull any funny business, I swear I'll hex you so bad that you'll never have the chance to procreate," she said as she poked him chest.

"I see you're still as prude as ever," Scorpius laughed as he sauntered back to his station.

Rose sighed in relief, she had gotten him off her back. As she began to sit, however, his sharp voice hit her again. "All the more fun it will be," he said with a wink.

Rose grabbed the edge of the table to contain her anger; she knew it would be bad if Healer Powell found out she had assaulted the new potioneer. She would probably get banned from coming down to the lab for a while and Rose couldn't let that happen; although with the current situation, it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

No, she couldn't let that git win, this was _her_ place, and she was not going to let Scorpius Malfoy walk all over her. If he was going to play this game, two could play it that way.

* * *

_**Scorpius' POV**_

Everything was going exactly to plan. Scorpius could see that he had gotten a rise out of Rose. She of course immediately dismissed him and tried her hardest to avoid him for the rest of the day. When April returned from lunch, one would think nothing had happened.

"Say April, when did you know you wanted to work here?" Scorpius asked, he knew it bothered Rose when people talked while she was working from their days at Hogwarts. Her obnoxious voice still rang in his mind when Slytherins use to share classes with the Gryffindors when she demanded they stop talking because it was ruining her concentration.

"It pays well," April smiled as she replied.

"What about you?" April asked in a flirty voice.

"Can we stop the chatter and get back to work," Rose interrupted.

Scorpius looked over at Rose's station and realized she was still looking down before turning back to April. "Oh well, you know it's been a dream of mine to work in the basement brewing potions," Scorpius replied with a smirk, ignoring Rose's request like he always did.

"Aw! Were you good at potions in school?" April asked but Scorpius could hear Rose snort from the other side, seemingly picking up his sarcasm while the other girl did not.

Scorpius smirked; she was listening to their conversation. "I was top of the class actually," Scorpius made sure to say it loud and slow so the words could sink in. The truth was that he was the best in potions, a fact that he never let Rose forget. The red head was no doubt the brightest student while they were at Hogwarts but there was one subject that stumped her, potions. It wasn't that she was bad, actually, she was brilliant; the only problem was, he was better.

He turned to Rose to gauge her reaction and sure enough, he could see the effort she was exerting to keep quiet. Scorpius smirked and turned back to his potion.

"Pity, you could have tutored me while I was in school," April murmured somewhat sadly.

"But of course, I eventually got the hang of it. I wouldn't have gotten the job if I wasn't good," April added.

"Wait, that means you probably went to Hogwarts," April said again.

Scorpius chuckled, "But of course."

April suddenly looked like something had clicked in her mind, "So you and Rose should know each other. You were probably classmates!"

Just as Scorpius was about to reply, Rose cut in, "Grey! Less talking, more brewing."

As April lowered her head and resumed her potion brewing, Scorpius noticed a pair of sharp blue eyes staring at him. If looks could kill, he would be dead but of course, he was Scorpius Malfoy. Instead, he winked at her before he returned to his potions.

* * *

A/N: Let the games begin! Thoughts?

And thank you so much for the kind comments, seriously, some of you are just too generous. It makes me feel bad that updates can't happen quicker (see chap 7 note) but virtual hugs for everyone. I love you guys!


	10. Battle of Wits

**Chapter 10- Battle of Wits**

Scorpius stared crossly at the man standing in front of him. He didn't have time nor did he want to make time. If he hadn't inherited all his looks from the man, no one would even know they were related. Over the past thirteen years, Scorpius had little he wanted to discuss with his father. Draco Malfoy had made countless efforts to try and reconnect with his son with there was no such luck. As Scorpius got older, he managed to escape every encounter, but today, his father had finally caught him.

Scorpius cursed under his breath; he was currently in the hospital lunchroom for his break. It would seem that his father just happened to be there today. There was no way for Scorpius to avoid him without making a scene and Healer Powell would surely reprimand him for his ill behavior. And he couldn't afford to jeopardize the position if he wanted to succeed in his mission.

"Scorpius, let's have a talk," Draco said calmly.

Scorpius snorted, "You're taking a mickey out of me. What could you possibly tell me that I don't already know?"

Draco looked around the room; everyone seemed to be chattering away but despite this, "Let's grab a bite at a restaurant."

Scorpius wiped his mouth and stood up abruptly, "I'm full."

As he made his way out of the room, his father grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him mid-step. Scorpius twirled around and stared his father in the eye with malice. "Stay away from me," he growled.

Draco reluctantly let go of Scorpius' arm and watched as his son leave once again.

As Scorpius exited the room, from the corner of his eye, he made out the confused face of Rose who was watching their interactions from before. She had entered the lunchroom and caught the exchange just in time. Normally, Scorpius would have said something but he was in no mood to discuss his personal life.

* * *

"Weasley, you're working in the lab again," Scorpius said nonchalantly as he leaned against the reception table where Rose was currently retrieving files.

"As I seem to recall, Healer Powell is the one who makes the schedules and I happen to know I'm doing rounds today," Rose refuted.

Scorpius smirked as he saw the old Healer round the corner. "Weasley! Why aren't you down in the lab?" Healer Powell asked.

He watched as Rose fluster in an attempt to explain her situation. "I thought you wanted me to do rounds today," Rose stammered.

"Yes but Malfoy here requested you to supervise the lab today. I think it's a good idea for you to help him get accustomed," Healer Powell said as she scribbled something down on a patient file and handed it to Heather, the receptionist. She gave one last look to Rose, one that said she wasn't going to ask twice, before she rounded the corner.

Scorpius whistled and stuffed his hands in his pockets before making his way down to the lab. He didn't look to see if Rose followed, he knew she was never one to disobey orders and after a few seconds, he heard the clacking of her heels as she followed him to the lab.

"I don't know what you told Powell but do that again and I'll break you're neck," Rose said briskly as soon as no one was in sight.

Scorpius clicked his tongue, "Violent tendencies; I should really report that to Powell, you know for the patients' well being."

Rose snorted, "Since when have you ever cared about anyone else's well being."

When they arrived at the lab, Rose immediately headed for the station she usually sat at and pulled out a cauldron to begin brewing potions. Scorpius walked up to her table and with a flick of his wand, the cauldron disappeared once again. Rose looked at up him with annoyance, "What do you think you're doing?"

Scorpius looked at his nails, avoiding her deadly gaze, "Weasley, I do hope you're much brighter than this when you're treating your patients."

When Rose didn't respond, he looked at her once again with a disinterested face, "Did you forget, you're suppose to be showing me around."

"You've been here for a week already! And I'm sure April has shown you _more than enough_," Rose retorted.

"Ah, but Powell did assign you to show me around and I do fancy a formal welcome, so…" Scorpius said, knowing that Rose would surely realize that she had no choice if she didn't want him telling Powell that she hadn't follow through.

Rose stood up with a huff and stomped to the cabinet in the back, "This is where all the ingredients are kept. If we're out of something, the last person to take it has to order more."

Scorpius feigned interest, enjoying her tortured face as she showed him around. In truth, April had shown him everything he needed to know but he took pleasure in pushing Rose's buttons.

She continued to the four tables in the center, "Here are the workstations. Make sure to keep them clean and make sure to keep an eye on your potions when you're brewing them. If you need to go somewhere, tell someone what you're doing before you leave. And you obviously know how to summon a cauldron."

Rose began walking forward until Scorpius spoke up. "No, you're going to have to show me."

"What?" Rose asked, clearly annoyed.

"How to summon a cauldron," Scorpius said simply.

Rose's mouth was agape as she stared at him in disbelief. Scorpius internally smirked; he was going to push her as far as he could today. It would come in handy later on so he would know how to work her.

When Scorpius made it look like he was serious about it, Rose growled before flicking her wand after which a cauldron appeared on the table. "There!" She flicked her wand once again to make it disappear, "And in case you wanted to know how to clean up. Happy?"

"Pleasantly," Scorpius smiled.

"Here are all the reference books in case you need to look up recipes and spells," Rose said as they made their way towards the large bookshelves.

"Now why would I need to know about this? I was the top student in our class," Scorpius smirked.

"Ugh, you insufferable git. Why are you really here?" Rose puffed.

"What? Can't stand the fact that you're not the best Weasley?" Scorpius asked before he sauntered away from her.

_As if this was his idea. _If it were up to him, Scorpius would never step into a room with her; much less voluntarily ask for her company.

* * *

_**Rose's POV**_

After the crap Scorpius had pulled yesterday, Rose decided it was time to get even. She had wanted to wring his neck with her bare hands but she knew that if she wanted to beat him, she would have to out wit him.

"Malfoy, why are there no calming draughts left," Healer Powell asked. She had called him up from the lab to clear things up.

Rose was standing by the receptionist table looking down but she could hear everything out clearly.

"That's impossible, I made a new batch just this morning," Scorpius replied.

"Oh? Then why am I hearing from the Healers that there isn't any left," Healer Powell said.

Rose decided it was time to make her move. "Oh Healer Powell, Mr. Malfoy is correct in that he did provide us with a batch of them this morning."

Scorpius looked surprised at her defending him and just as his lips curled upward towards Healer Powell, Rose smirked and continued. "But the thing is, they were all faulty. We didn't know that there was something wrong until the patients went through them like pumpkin juice and nothing happened. And now we're out."

She snapped her head toward Scorpius to gauge his reaction and sure enough, he was watching her darkly. She smiled again and held out a vial of the draught. "Here's one of the leftover draughts. After realizing something was wrong, I went to test it and found that it was lacking in moonstone. So I went to brew a new batch and found that there was none left in the supply cabinet. It would seem that Mal…Mr. Malfoy forgot to order new moonstone after we ran out and skimped on it when he realized he needed to make a new batch of draught for today."

Healer Powell threw a stern look at Scorpius, "Mr. Malfoy, please go make some more calming draughts and make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Oh there's no need, I went ahead and ordered the new moonstones and brewed them during my break," Rose piped it.

Healer Powell gave her a rare smile before it quickly disappeared, "Mr. Malfoy, you're quite lucky Healer Weasley caught it in time and that it was only calming draught. If it were something more serious, I should think you would be accountable for the lives you might have put at stake for your mistake."

Scorpius nodded before the old Healer walked away. As soon as she was out of earshot, Rose smirked at Scorpius. "What's the matter Malfoy? Can't stand the fact that you're not the best?"

* * *

Rose was hoping to relax when she got home but there was no such thing. As soon as she arrived, she was bombarded by her female cousins. Her wedding was a few weeks away and she had managed to keep it in the back of her mind. Don't get her wrong, she loved Grant and couldn't wait to marry him but the process of the wedding was stressful and something she could do without. But it was apparent that her cousins weren't going to let her put it off for any longer.

"Rose, we have to start looking into dresses. You can't marry Grant wearing your Healer robes," Lily cheekily quipped.

"Oh Lily, your humor never seizes to amaze me," Rose said with a yawn. She immediately started to fall onto her couch and began drifting off.

"Oh no you don't!" Victoire said as she pulled Rose up straight.

"But I'm tired! You try working on your feet for ten hours straight," Rose complained.

"No one made you be a Healer," Dominique piped in.

Rose stuck her tongue out at her older cousin. "That's enough," Victoire cut in.

"Now, Lily you go get a cold towel to wake Rose up. Roxanne, do you think you can whip something up; I'm sure Rose is starving from _working on her feet for ten hours straight_."

"Hey!" Rose cut in but Victoire continued to dish out instructions.

"Dom, you…well, just don't cause any trouble," Victoire concluded.

Dominique snorted and folded her arms before throwing her feet onto the coffee table, "Nice of you to think of me that way Vic."

Victoire waved her off before turning her attention to Rose and started babbling on about the wedding. Rose looked at Dominique with desperation but her cousin just shrug and smirked. There was no way she was getting any sleep tonight; if Victoire had it her way, she would plan the whole wedding. Apparently getting married once meant that she knew everything about weddings. Victoire married Teddy just last fall; but Rose did have to admit, it was a beautiful wedding.

It was midnight before the girls finally left and Rose was left to salvage what was left of her evening. Rose had to admit that having Victoire made the whole process easier, albeit annoying but the girls had really made some progress on the wedding. They managed to pick out the bridesmaid dresses, which included her cousins and her best friend Kyle, and picked out the flowers for the wedding. Grant soon arrived home and she was never happier to see him. "Where have you been?" she asked exasperatedly.

Grant chuckled, "I was told by your cousins that I wasn't allowed back until they were done."

"They locked you out?" Rose asked with a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

"It's all for the wedding right?" Grant murmured as he joined her in bed and kissed her.

Rose grabbed his head to bring him closer, enjoying the intimacy. "I can't wait to marry you Mr. Barnes," Rose whispered. The happiness inside of her in that moment had made her forget about the ongoing struggle at work with Scorpius and her tiring evening with her cousins.

* * *

A/N: Soooo sorry for the late update, I couldn't write anything last weekend because I had some problems with my eyes, so had to visit the doctor. They told me to rest and take a break from the computer. Hopefully this sort of thing doesn't happen again (2 weeks, yikes!) Again, sorry for the wait.


	11. A Hint of Peppermint

**Chapter 11- A Hint of Peppermint**

"Malfoy!" Scorpius heard Rose call him from across the hall.

Scorpius smirked as he finished charming Heather while Rose stomped towards him. "Didn't you hear me calling you?" she asked when she finally reached him.

"What was that Weasley?" Scorpius asked, feigning innocence.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Are you done with the blood replenishing potions?"

"But of course. The real question is, did you really have to ask me that in person?" Scorpius said with a smug smile.

"Don't flatter yourself Malfoy, this is my floor," Rose scoffed before taking off.

Despite his loathing of Rose, he couldn't help but follow her retreating figure with his eyes. He had to admit, she turned out to be one fine woman, granted, if she wasn't Rose Weasley, that would have pleased Scorpius even more. His eyes lingered for a bit longer; catching her hips swaying back and forth in her tight skirt, and her legs, her long slender legs elongated by a pair of black heels that clacked against the marble floor in a monotonous tune. Thinking better of himself, he snapped his head back to Heather and smiled.

After a week and a half of working in the hospital, he knew approaching Rose directly wouldn't get him anywhere. Instead, he resorted to charming the hospital staff into giving him information about Rose and her quirks. So far he'd managed to find out her shift schedules, how she liked her coffee, who she talked to most of the time and other little facts that may be useful to him later on.

"Hey Heather, do you think you can schedule me in for the night shift today?" Scorpius asked.

Heather giggled, "Why would you want the night shift?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Scorpius said before flashing her a smile. He could have sworn with the look she was giving him, if she had been standing, her knees surely would have gone weak and given out.

Heather giggled again before looking through the schedules. "Changed it for you," she said in a tone that seek for his approval.

"Thanks, I owe you one," Scorpius said with a wink before leaving. He could hear a distinctive _ohhhh _from Heather as he sauntered away.

By midnight, most of the staff had gone home. The hospital was practically a ghost town; only a few healers and nurses were walking through the halls, checking up on patients. Scorpius was the only potioneer on the night shift today; it was originally Paul's shift. Paul was another potioneer who worked in his department. Their department consisted of himself, April, Paul, Daisy and occasionally Rose. Since there aren't many accidents at night, Scorpius was left to his own devices.

He sat at in the cafeteria for his break. He wasn't brewing anything; he had that taken care of hours ago just so that he would have time for this. Scorpius checked his watch and almost like clockwork, Rose walked into the cafeteria at a quarter to one. She hadn't noticed him though; her nose was buried deeply in a file as she walked toward the coffee machine. During the daytime, there was a cafeteria staff that could serve them but at night, the staff relied on the vending machines. Scorpius watched as Rose deposited a few sickles into the machine mindlessly before blindly pressing the buttons as if she had done it a million times before and knew just where to press.

He watched her closely; she still hadn't figured that the machine was broken. She waited for what seemed like five minutes before she realized something was wrong. Rose looked up from her file and stared at the machine. Her brow furrow when she realized the machine was broken and hadn't dispensed her coffee. Scorpius smirked, he had found out a few days ago from Heather, Rose's schedule and her addiction to coffee, similar to himself. It wasn't a surprise though since Healers had a tendency to work sixteen hour shifts and needed to keep awake.

Scorpius heard her let out a string of profanities before she kicked the machine. "Now that's one way of getting coffee. Surely, the machine will sense your anger and make your coffee," Scorpius said smoothly. He could tell she was surprised by his presence as she jumped a little upon hearing his voice. Her face however was anything but surprised when she turned around. Scorpius figured she had recognized his voice.

"I'm not in the mood for your little spats Malfoy," Rose groaned as she headed for the exit before she suddenly stopped.

"You're doing a night shift," she said in a suspicious voice.

Scorpius snorted, "Well aren't you the brightest tool in the shed."

"Don't play dumb Malfoy, I know Paul's suppose to be doing the night shift today. What are you doing here?" Rose asked again.

"Just doing Paul a favor. The bloke needed a break," Scorpius answered coolly.

Rose chortled, "You're doing Paul a favor?"

"You underestimate my generosity," Scorpius replied.

"And you underestimate my intelligence," Rose retorted.

Scorpius leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms; for a moment, they stared heatedly at each other. Rose's gaze was unwavering and for the first time, Scorpius had a clear look of her crystal blue eyes.

"Well it just so happens that I have an extra mug of coffee. If you'd like…" Scorpius said as he gestured to the cup on the table.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Like I would ever drink something you offered me."

"What, you think I would poison you? Weasley, come on, give me some credit here. Why would poison you at a hospital where help is readily available," Scorpius said.

He watched as she struggled with her thoughts, pondering his offer. He knew how much Rose needed her coffee if she was to get through the night but her pride was refusing to give in. However, after a few minutes, her resolve had fallen; her body had betrayed her brain. She cautiously walked toward the table he was sitting at and grabbed the cup, her eyes never leaving his as the look of suspicion still fresh on her face. He watched as she slowly brought the cup to her face, hesitating slightly before finally taking a sip.

Her eyes widened in surprise but Scorpius only smirked. Aside from finding out about her addiction to coffee, he also found out from the cafeteria staff how she liked her coffee, strong with a splash of peppermint cream. It was an odd combination, which made it all the more effective and impressive. Rose squinted her eyes at him before she finally sighed. "Thanks," she muttered.

"Now that's a first," Scorpius chuckled.

"Sod off Malfoy," Rose murmured but managed to chuckle.

She took the seat across from him as she continued to drink her coffee. They sat in silence for the next ten minutes, neither of them offering a word; Rose reading over her file while Scorpius closed his eyes as he leaned against the chair. When Rose finally finished her cup, she stood up and walked over to the garbage can. Scorpius heard her heels fading before it suddenly stopped by the exit.

"Whatever you did to the machine, you better fix it before Powell gets in," Rose announced with a hint of amusement.

Scorpius didn't open his eyes, nor did he say anything as she left, he only smiled.

* * *

As luck would have it, Scorpius found himself bumping into Wes in the hospital today. His friend had brought his daughter Eliza in to the hospital after the little girl ate something she wasn't suppose to and was having an upset stomach.

"Scorp, what are you doing here?" Wes asked him when he spotted Scorpius in the hall.

Scorpius looked around the hall before walking toward Wes. "Hey mate, how's it going," he asked, trying to avoid answering Wes' question.

"Eliza ate something and now she's not feeling too well. I tried to help but she wouldn't stop crying and I panicked so I brought her here. Please don't tell Lisa, she'll kill me," Wes replied.

Scorpius chuckled, "That, she will mate."

"So what are _you_ doing here?" Wes asked again as he eyed Scorpius' attire.

"Trying out a new career," Scorpius answered.

Wes arched his eyebrow, "You're _trying _out being a Healer?"

"No but if you must know, I'm a potioneer," Scorpius replied.

"What happened with that company," Wes asked in an unsure tone. Scorpius had been quite ambiguous about his profession and never did reveal the nature of his work to most of his friends.

Just then the examination room door opened as the Healer stepped out. "Weasley is Eliza's healer?" Scorpius asked in a disgruntled tone when he noticed it was Rose who had stepped out of Eliza's room.

Wes looked toward Rose before looking back at Scorpius nervously. Surely his friend knew of his distaste toward the red head but he finally relented, Rose was arguably one of the better Healers in the hospital. He also knew that Wes was familiar with Rose as well since she was Albus' cousin and use to hang around a lot during their Hogwarts years.

Rose called Wes into the room. Scorpius was about to leave when Wes asked if he could join him. Reluctantly, he followed Wes and Rose into the room to see that the little girl was now sleeping peacefully in one of the cribs.

"She's fine. Inhaled some puffapod seeds but we managed to get them out. We gave her some sleeping draught to calm her down. I imagine all that screaming left her pretty tired," Rose said to Wes as he smiled nervously.

"Thanks Rose," Wes said.

Rose nodded before walking over to the monitors to check on Eliza one more time. Scorpius had been staring off to space when he heard Wes talk to him. "Oh right, so what happened with that company?" he asked again.

"Nothing, just wanted to try something new," Scorpius repeated.

Wes chuckled, "Never in one place for too long eh?"

Scorpius nodded at Wes before patting his back and announced that he had to get back to work. Wes let him go as he watched his daughter sleep. As soon as he left the room, he heard the familiar clack of heels behind him.

"Always the conceited one, aren't we," Rose asked as she caught up with him when they reached the front desk. He turned around to look at her as she scribbled down some notes onto the file before handing it off to one of the nurses.

"What are you on about now Weasley," Scorpius asked.

"Nothing, just wanted to try something new," Rose imitated him from earlier. "You think you're so good at everything that you can just waltz in here and give saving lives a _try_?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "Well you see Weasley, I _was _hired based on my merit so surely, I'm good enough. As for saving lives, you're clearly mistaken; I never said anything about being a Healer. I brew potions, whether or not someone lives or dies is not on me."

"No, but you're responsible for making the potions correctly. Even if we make the right decision, one faulty potion can change everything," Rose argued.

"Which is why I don't make mistakes," Scorpius retorted.

"Ugh, you arrogant toerag. You see, this is what I'm talking about," Rose said as she gestured in the air toward him before stomping away.

* * *

_**Albus' POV**_

Albus sat at his desk, peering from the side to catch a glance at Elizabeth as she sorted through the files unsuspectingly. He sighed, ever since he mistakenly gave her a box of chocolate, which she was unfortunately allergic to, he had been nervous about approaching her again. He had apologized to her afterwards but other than that, he wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to him. Nothing had changed; she still talked to him as much as she did before the incident so he didn't understand why he couldn't bring himself to speak to her. But he was scared that he would make a fool of himself again because despite his cool exterior, she intimidated the hell out of him.

In his daze, he had inadvertently missed Elizabeth leaving her chair as she headed for his office. "Al, you have a visitor," she said.

Al stared stupidly into her eyes, giving her his goofy smile. He couldn't help it, every time she spoke to him, he would have the same reaction. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Al, you have a visitor!" she repeated, this time louder so he could hear.

"What? Oh, right. Sure, let them in Liz," Albus stuttered. Albus had been waiting to hear back from him all week about the progress. As Elizabeth left the office, Albus trained his eyes at her back before the blond man walked in and pulled him away from Elizabeth.

Albus took one look at Scorpius, noticing the annoyed look on Scorpius, and frowned. "Please tell me it's going well."

Scorpius slouched down onto the couch and rubbed his forehead, "It's not."

* * *

A/N: Thoughts?


	12. Silent Treatment

A/N: Over 100 reviews! OMG, I can't believe it guys. When I first started writing fanfiction, I didn't think it would ever be possible for me to break 100 but here you guys are, proving me wrong. I seriously can't thank all of you enough for the kind words and encouragement. I'll admit it hasn't been easy churning out new chapters every week with work now but you guys make me want to do it. Again thank you! I'll keep trying my best to make this story the best I can make it.

Now onto the story. Some more Scorpius and Rose interaction, I know you guys like that. There's a big chunk that is in the past so it'll be in _italics_. And thanks for being such wonderful readers, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 12- Silent Treatment**

"What do you mean it's not going well?" Albus exclaimed.

Scorpius continued slouching on the visitor's chair with his hand over his eyes. He was developing a small headache from the incessant talking everyone has been doing. First, it was April who didn't want to stop talking about her new hairdo. Then, there was the situation with Wes and Rose. And now he had to deal with an impatient Albus.

"Exactly as it sounds, I've been busy with work," Scorpius replied.

Albus smiled slyly, "What? Can't handle this one?"

Scorpius peeled his hand off of his face and raised his eyebrow at his friend. Albus immediately retreated and stayed quiet. "But don't worry, I'll get it done Al," Scorpius finished.

"Thanks mate," Albus said.

Scorpius waved him off and pushed off the armrest to stand up. "Are we done here?"

"Well, if you say you have it under control," Albus hinted. "I just wanted to check up the progress."

Suddenly, Elizabeth poked her head in the office, "Al, your father wants to see you."

Scorpius watched as Albus fumbled with his hands, throwing Scorpius a stern look in the process before looking at Elizabeth with his signature goofy smile. "Thanks Liz."

Albus left soon after and Scorpius was left alone with Elizabeth. "So Liz, when are you going to give the bloke a break?" Scorpius asked with a smirk as he leaned against Albus' desk.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes but he was able to make out a small smile in the mist of it. "I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Malfoy, but I need to get back to work. I trust you can let yourself out?"

Scorpius smirked and shook his head before heading to the exit where he would have to once again face an unpleasant Rose Weasley.

"Merlin Weasley, it must be hard to sit with a stick up your arse all the time," Scorpius said casually when he returned to the hospital and found Rose yelling at an intern.

Rose stared at he harshly because she started walking the other way.

"What? Not going to say anything back because you know it's true?" Scorpius continued as he followed her down the hall.

Once again, she said nothing and kept walking. Scorpius was starting to grow annoyed at her silent treatment. Sure, he didn't particularly like her most of the time but after his first week, he had been reminded all too soon how much he enjoyed pushing her buttons. To be honest, it was a breath of fresh air to work with someone who kept him on his feet.

Scorpius realized there was no point in waiting for her to respond; the silent treatment was no accident. He slowly receded and watched as she continued walking down the hall, the back of her heels clacking all the way. _If she was going to play it this way, he was going to make it harder on her._

* * *

_**Rose's POV**_

Rose had had enough of the prick's attitude and if she was to make it down the aisle without any gray hairs, she was going to have to be more mature about her approach toward him. Despite having a lapse of weakness that other night with the coffee situation, granted she was sure he had done something to the machine, it was still a nice gesture; he proved her right once again that he was still a jerk.

_What exactly did he mean when he said he was trying this job out. Did he not know how hard she had to work to become a healer? And here he was waving it around like it was nothing, just another pit stop for his real end goal, _Rose thought. Which she wasn't even sure if he even had one. That was such a foreign thought in her mind, Malfoy who was probably spoon-fed everything; why would he ever have any goals when he had everything. That's not to say that her own parents weren't well off, but she had been instilled with discipline, something she wasn't so sure about Scorpius.

"Hello Henry; how are you doing today?" Rose asked as she walked into the patient's room. Henry was whom you would call your resident patient. He had a chronic illness that required him to visit the hospital very often. He was an elderly patient that was under Rose's care for as long as she could remember. It was when she was still an intern; studying under Healer Powell that she met him.

"_Hello Henry, how are you doing today?" Healer Powell asked as she entered the room, followed by the group of four interns. Rose stood promptly in front of everyone else as she studied the old man, her notepad out and ready to jot down anything useful Healer Powell would say, which in Rose's case usually meant everything that spilled from her mouth._

"_Hanging in there Amy," Henry replied warmly. There was an intake of breath as this was the first time someone had called Amelia Powell, Amy. _

_Healer Powell rolled her eyes at Henry with a smile before facing the interns with a stern look. "Who would like to end the rounds today?"_

"_Henry Samuels, 77. Admitted for wheezing, fatigue, and sudden nighttime attacks of shortness of breaths" an intern spoke up. _

"_Good, can anyone tell me what might be wrong with Mr. Samuels?" Healer Powell asked._

_The room was silent for a moment; no one seemed to know what was wrong with the old man. Rose, meanwhile, was busy scribbling on her notepad before she realized everyone was stumped. She reviewed her notes and furrowed her brow. "Healer Powell, why is Mr. Samuels being admitted into a magical hospital? He had heart failure, does he not? Shouldn't he be treated in a regular hospital?" Rose recited, all the while looking at her notes._

_When she looked up, she found Henry smiling at her while her peers looked around confusedly. Healer Powell finally spoke up, "You are quite right Ms. Weasley. Henry here is a muggle and has a chronic heart condition." This suddenly stirred the room of interns as they waited for Healer Powell to explain. _

"_Then why is he…" Rose started but was cut off by the head healer._

"_What is he here at St. Mungos?" Healer Powell asked. Rose and the rest of the interns nodded obediently. _

"_Mr. Samuel's children insist he come here." _

_Healer Powell gave a short demonstration on how to treat Henry. Rose imagined it was because most of them probably never had any exposure to muggle related problems, but not Rose. Having a muggle born parent had it's advantages and as soon as Rose realized what she wanted to do, she not only studied all the magical texts, but she also read up on muggle books. Occasionally, the muggle world would offer something different from the wizarding world._

"_You are dismissed," Healer Powell announced afterwards. As Rose began to leave the room, Healer Powell caught her. _

"_I'm impressed Weasley, don't ruin that," Healer Powell said in a monotonous voice before dispersing. Rose stood there in shock that the head healer had just complimented her._

Over the years, Rose would find Henry's company quite relieving after a day's worth of work. She started out by just stopping by his room occasionally when he checked in but after years of working at the hospital, it was an unspoken agreement that he was her patient. Henry reminded her so much of her own grandfather that she took comfort to telling him things about her life when she needed a break from her hectic life.

"Rose darling, it's nice to see you," Henry replied enthusiastically.

Rose walked around the bed and gave him a hug, although it was not ideal for a healer to be intimate with their patients, Rose felt like Henry was family. "Healer Powell told me you weren't feeling too well, I came to check up on you."

"It's no big deal, Amy likes to exaggerate," Henry chuckled.

Rose smiled and patted his shoulder; "We only want to make sure you're okay."

"I'd say getting treated by witches and wizards is more than okay," Henry replied.

"Besides, there's nothing more we can do, this illness will eventually take me," Henry added.

Rose frowned, although she knew there was nothing that could stop Henry's heart from failing suddenly and just dying, she didn't want to think of the possibility.

"Why the long face Weasley?" someone suddenly asked from the door.

Rose immediately snapped her head to meet Scorpius' devilish face. She stared at him without saying a word but the look she gave was one of warning.

"Who might you be?" Henry interrupted.

"Just ignore him Henry, Malfoy is not the type of _insect_ you want to involve yourself with," Rose said as she gritted her teeth.

Henry chuckled before taking a better look over Scorpius and smiled. "Are you going to answer his question Rose?"

Rose looked down at Henry before remembering Malfoy's untimely question. She watched as Scorpius smirked to the comment. "Yes, do tell us, Weasley."

Rose contemplated on how long she could stay silent until she realized she wasn't getting away with it now that the prick involved Henry. She took a deep breath and spoke. "Well if you must know, it's because I saw your face. I was perfectly happy before you came along. But if you want to help, you can start by quitting your job," Rose said with a cheeky smirk.

Scorpius feigned hurt and placed his hand over his heart, "No can do Weasley."

Henry chuckled at the interaction. "Anyway Weasley, come see me when you're done," Scorpius added before waving them off.

Henry motioned for Rose to come closer. "You can go now sweetheart. Don't let me keep you from that," he said, motioning outside to where Scorpius was standing and winked at Rose.

Rose pulled back with a puzzled face before she realized what he was getting at. "Henry! We are not doing anything; I'm engaged to my fiancé! And he's a prick." Rose said in a loud whisper. But Henry only smiled. Rose shook her head and smiled; took one last look at his chart before she left the room.

* * *

_**Scorpius' POV**_

Scorpius watched from the side of his eyes, Rose talking to the old man after he left the room. He pretended to write something down on his paper while he waited. The truth was, he didn't really need to see her for anything; he just wanted to force her out of giving him the silent treatment. Scorpius didn't know why he wanted her to talk to him but he did. It was quite boring when she didn't banter with him.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Rose asked in a puff as she approached him by the desk.

"Me? I don't want anything from you Weasley," Scorpius replied.

"Then why did you say you needed to see me before," Rose asked, her patience growing thin.

"I didn't say anything," Scorpius whistled. "But if you want to talk to me, all you need to do is ask," he winked.

Rose shook her head, "You are unbelievable you know that?"

"What's unbelievable is how you manage to fit your bottom in that skirt," Scorpius said in a whisper as he closed in near her face.

She pulled back instantly, "I could report you for sexual harassment Malfoy."

"But you won't," he shrugged.

"And why wouldn't I?" Rose asked.

"Because that would just be a cheap way of getting rid of me. And we all know you're not the type of person who would just take the easy way out," Scorpius replied.

"Don't be so sure Malfoy. I think you underestimate how much I want you to leave," she quipped.

Scorpius chortled, "Then be my guest."

He then started walking back to the lab, "Oh and I win."

Upon returning to the lab, Scorpius felt as if something had been lifted off his shoulders. Rose was talking to him again.


	13. Twisted Sundae

A/N: I don't know how many of you still follow this story but I'm cannot tell you how sorry I am for not updating. A lots happened in the past month or so and I just didn't feel like writing anything. I had started this chapter before my hiatus and kept putting off posting this because I didn't know when I would be able to write the next chapter. But there's no point in prolonging it so here it is. I'll have a week off next week so hopefully I can review my story and write a new chapter soon. If I don't get one up by the next two weeks- Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

* * *

**Chapter 13- Twisted Sundae**

"She's coming!" Scorpius whispered as Elizabeth walked through the foyer. He took one last look behind him before he heard her call him.

"Scorpius, what are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked.

Scorpius smirked. "Here to see Al, what else?" he replied nonchalantly.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "And since when has me not being here ever stopped you from just entering the offices."

He shrugged as he held the doors open for her to enter. As Elizabeth took her seat at the front desk, Scorpius continued to stare at her until she realized he was still standing there. "Aren't you going to escort me Ms. Miller?" Scorpius asked with his eyebrow raised.

"You can't be serious. I have work to do; you know your way to Albus' office like it was the back of your hand," Elizabeth waved off.

As she began to turn around, Scorpius pulled her up and placed her arm around his as if she were escorting him to the office. Realizing that Scorpius meant it, Elizabeth sighed and started walking.

"No need to drag your feet all the way there," Scorpius said smugly.

"Hey, you wanted me to bring you; take it or leave it," Elizabeth retorted.

Scorpius chuckled and shook his head. They made it all the way to the back where Albus' office resided. "Okay, we're here," Elizabeth commented.

As she turned to walk back to the front desk, Scorpius held onto her, "You're suppose to announce me," he said.

"What is this? Buckingham Palace?" Elizabeth asked.

Scorpius tapped his watch as if to say that he was waiting for her. The blonde knocked the door three times and waited for an answer. When she didn't hear one, she knocked again. "Al, you have a _visitor_," she said, emphasizing the last word while looking at Scorpius with a sarcastic expression.

After a few moments of silence, Elizabeth frowned, "Odd, he's suppose to be in by now." Scorpius just shrugged.

Elizabeth knocked again, this time with more force. "Al, are you in there?" she said with a sense of urgency. Most would not have noticed but Scorpius did; he smirked.

"Maybe I should come back later," Scorpius offered.

Elizabeth contemplated it for a second before offering to check Al's office. "I can open the door, you know just in case. I don't know why he's not here yet," she said.

"Hmm, I guess that would be good," Scorpius replied nonchalantly.

Elizabeth took out her wand and murmured a spell after which Scorpius heard the lock click from behind. She slowly turned the knob and opened the door with hesitance. Her head emerged on the other side clouded with darkness; Scorpius soon followed after her.

"Surprise!" Albus suddenly leaped out from behind the couch and yelled. The rest of the people soon followed in cheers as Elizabeth stood in awe before the crowd that had gathered.

"Happy Birthday Liz," Albus said once he was closer to her.

Elizabeth spun around and looked at Scorpius to which he only winked.

"I can't believe you did that," Elizabeth said.

"What, you think I would forget about your birthday?" Albus replied with a smile.

"NO! That you would pretend to not be in here you git!" Elizabeth exclaimed while swatting Albus on the arm.

"Ow. Did I do something wrong?" Albus asked while looking at Scorpius for help.

Before Scorpius could step in, Elizabeth pulled Albus in for a hug. Scorpius could only see the big grin residing on his best friend's face. When she finally let go, Scorpius could see the blush on her face. "Um, thanks," Elizabeth said shyly.

"Oh here, I got you this," Albus said as he held out a box.

Scorpius watched as Elizabeth tore open the box. Her jubilant eyes suddenly resembled disappointment but she tried to conceal it. "Oh, thanks for the chocolate Albus. But I'm…"she started.

"But you're allergic. Which is why I asked Scorpius to brew a special potion for me that negate the effects. The ingredients were pretty hard to come by but I figured you probably never really tasted real chocolate before so…" Albus cut in but was cut off himself; this time with kiss from Elizabeth.

The whole room started cheering and before they knew it, Albus and Elizabeth were both blushing with Albus looking a little proud of what he'd just done. Scorpius smirked, "If that was all it took, I could have gotten you magic chocolate a lot sooner."

Elizabeth fixed Scorpius with a stern look before succumbing to a smile. "Thanks Scorpius."

* * *

"Where have you been? Your shift started half an hour ago!" Rose exclaimed.

Scorpius continued down the hall with his hands in his pockets as if she hadn't just yelled at him.

"Did you hear what I said Malfoy? You're putting us behind," Rose added.

"So I'll stay half an hour later. Loosen up Weasley," Scorpius replied as he opened the door to the lab. He held the door open and waited for her to walk in first. Rose stared heatedly at Scorpius before stomping in before him.

He walked over to his station and put his things away while Rose towered over his desk, waiting for his reply. "So?" she asked.

"So? I thought I said I would stay longer," Scorpius said.

"Where were you?" Rose asked.

Scorpius smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know."

She wrinkled her nose. "If you think I actually care what you do on your free time, you're mistaken. But I'm under strict order to keep a close eye on you so you don't screw anything up," she said with her head held high.

He leaned forward over and rested his elbows on the desk. "If you must know Weasley, I was with a girl," he said while wiggling his eyebrows.

Rose puffed, "Ugh, you insufferable git." She then stomped her way across the room to her own station.

"Wanna join me next time?" Scorpius called out in a teasing voice.

Rose suddenly stopped mid-step and spun around. With the same amount of heaviness in her step, she walked back toward him and around his desk this time. She waved her wand and spun his chair to face her; with a hand on her hip and the other leaning on the desk for support, she gave a deathly stare at Scorpius.

He looked at her from head to toe; her curves shaping the skirt she was wearing, her blouse unbuttoned just enough at the top to drive any man's imagination crazy. But that wasn't what Scorpius saw, he saw the fire in her deep blue eyes. The ones that he overlooked for seven years during their time at Hogwarts. And that's when it happened, suddenly, he felt like he was lost somewhere. He didn't understand nor did he notice the subtle increase of his heartbeats. There was something about her; he didn't know what but he knew he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Scorpius watched as Rose moved her lips to what he assume were insults hurled his way but for some reason, he could only focus on his red lips. Her words were a blur. Suddenly, he found himself standing up. He could see that she was surprised by his action so she took a step back. And before he knew it, his face was an inch away from hers. They lingered in this limbo for about two seconds and for those two seconds, something felt _right._

His body continued to push him onward until their noses were practically touching. That was when Rose finally realized what was happening. He watched as her face turn from confusion to surprise and finally to anger. In a flash, his face was the receiving end of a cold hard slap from her hand. His hand instinctively flew to his face to feel the damage.

"Fuck off Malfoy," she said, each word grinding off her teeth and stabbing him in the chest. Scorpius still stood blankly with his hand over his face as he watched Rose run away from him. He vaguely heard a sniffle from her as she ran away. _Shit._

After the incident, Rose did not return to the lab for the rest of the day. In fact she didn't come down to the lab for the next three days even when Healer Powell requested she supervise. It was not like Rose to disobey a request but Scorpius knew why. He had yet to process what happened three days ago down in the lab. His brain had been yelling at him to stop but his body kept moving until he was only a second away from touching her lips.

But this was not going to work, he had a job to accomplish and it wouldn't work if she avoided him for the next two weeks. Whatever had possessed him to move so close to her, he was sure it was just a lapse of judgment on his part; a kink he would work out with his brain. He had to corner her and get her to talk to him. Scorpius would then play it off as part of his game and add in some sexist comment; she'll certainly talk to him again at that point. If there was something Rose wouldn't stand for was people belittling the sexes.

* * *

_**Rose's POV**_

"Kyle!" Rose waved when she spotted her best friend in the café. Rose had summoned her friend for an emergency meet up. Everything had gotten too confusing for her to handle and she needed to talk to her best friend. Kyle worked at the Daily Prophet so her schedule was equally hectic but they had promised long ago that if one of them _really_ needed to talk, they would try and make it.

"Wotcher Rosie," Kyle said as she hugged her friend. The two hadn't seen each other since the informal engagement party but had managed to mail. Her situation with Scorpius was discussed in brief, mainly it was her cursing him off in her letters but this is an entirely new ground.

"Please don't tell me this isn't a wedding emergency Rose, every bride gets that sometime before they're married," Kyle said when she finally sat down.

Rose shook her head. Kyle waited for her to explain. When Rose didn't, Kyle started to worry. "Rose, what is it?"

"Scorpius Malfoy," Rose said with a hint of anger.

Kyle snorted, "Isn't he always a problem?"

"This isn't another one of those _Malfoy is bothering me_ rants Kyle," Rose whined.

"Oh," Kyle perked up and listened attentively.

Rose leaned in closer and whispered, "I think he tried to kiss me."

"WHAT?" Kyle exclaimed but Rose managed to muff her so her friend wouldn't cause a scene.

"What do you mean you _think _he tried to kiss you?" Kyle whispered loudly when Rose let go.

Rose looked around the room, no damaged seemed to have been done, "Malfoy, that arrogant git, tried to kissed me."

"By _tried, _you mean...?" Kyle started.

"I mean, I was backed into a table and his face was an inch away from mine. Our noses practically touched for Merlin's sake!" Rose whispered loudly.

"WHAT?" Kyle exclaimed again. Rose covered her mouth again and eyed her sternly.

"Well did you tell Grant yet? I'm sure he can beat him up for you," Kyle started when Rose let go. "Actually, I can do that for you if you want," she added.

Rose chuckled sadly. When they were at Hogwarts, Kyle never understood why Rose didn't just hand Scorpius what he deserved and punched him. It was also something her father would mention about her mother doing the same when they were at school. This usually resulted in her mother screaming "Ronald!" and blushing. So it was no surprise that was the first thing her friend offered to do. But then again, Kyle was always more of the "just do, worry late" type.

"Not yet," Rose replied shyly.

"Why the hell not?" Kyle asked.

Rose shrugged. "Okay Rose, as your best friend, I'm obligated to tell you that you're being stupid right now and that you should do something about it."

"I don't know; it's not a big deal. I don't want to worry about that, I already have enough on my plate with the wedding. I'll just ignore him," Rose said.

Kyle sighed and shook her head, "Well, tell me you did something."

Rose grinned. "That's my girl," Kyle said.

"Okay, we should probably order it now," Kyle said with a sparkle in her eye. Rose rolled her eyes but called the waiter over.

"Ugh, I'm so bloated right now," Rose said.

"You barely ate anything!" Kyle complained as she tapped her belly.

When Rose tried to refute, Kyle raised her eyebrow. "I have a wedding in about two weeks! I don't want to look like a whale," Rose admitted.

"Well, I guess you're paying," Kyle smiled.

The two women eyed the giant empty bowl that held the large pumpkin spice sundae. It was a tradition that was started when they were still at school. Whenever something was wrong, they would sneak into the kitchens to get ice cream. Later on, they decided that it would be best if they talked before pigging out on ice cream. When they started working, they made a deal that whoever ate less would have to pay. It was a pretty twisted deal but it worked. Surely, whoever ate more, needed it and should be allowed to enjoy the whole experience of eating a giant sundae without worrying about paying.

* * *

A/N: The beginning of the end :) Hope you liked the other parts as well, wanted to add something sweet in there.

If there are any Teddy/Victoire fans out there, I just finished writing a short story/one shot kind of thing. It's called Six Degrees of Separation. I would love it if you would checked it out and maybe review if you like it? Thank you!


	14. Just a Dream

A/N: Good news: quicker update than I thought. I really wanted to give you guys something for being such lovely readers. Bad news: It's quite a short "filler" but I've been toying with this idea for a long time and just had to write it. Although I really think it's necessary in terms of a vehicle to bring Scorpius to terms one might say and does well as a stand along chapter so don't think I'm lazy for not making it any longer (you'll see in the end). I think you'll probably understand why I named this title as such but don't let me keep you waiting any longer! And as always, don't forget to review and let me know what you think!

* * *

**Chapter 14**

It was a Friday and the night was still young. The sky was clear but the chill that went through his bones made it obvious that it was winter. With each passing breath caused his vision to fog from the condensation. After a few minutes, he arrived at his destination. Scorpius managed to get through the front doors just fine. As he stepped beyond the double doorframe, the warmth embraced his body.

"Joe!" Scorpius called out over the jazzy music as he raised a finger at the bartender. Joe immediately nodded and placed a shot glass on the counter before pouring the firewhiskey into the glass. Scorpius lowered his hat and took a swig before slamming the glass onto the counter, signaling for another.

"How's it looking today Joe?" Scorpius asked.

"A few good ones," Joe replied as he wiped the glasses.

Scorpius drank the firewhiskey Joe had refilled. "24, Blonde…Married, Just your type," Joe remarked as he darted his head toward the woman sitting at a table to the left.

Scorpius followed Joe's gaze and smirked, "Perfect."

As Scorpius made his way over to the table, he bumped into one of the servers. "I'm sor…" the girl started.

"Watch where you're going yeah?" Scorpius scolded as he brush some of the liquid off of his suit. Without taking another look, he marched forward toward the blonde once again.

Just as he began to step down the stairs, he suddenly felt the rug being pulled from under him. The result was him tripping but luckily, his reflexes were quick enough and he recovered before anyone noticed. "What the…?" Scorpius asked angrily as he turned around; he was sure someone was responsible for this slip.

"Can you be more of a jerk?" the redhead said as he turned around.

"You did that?" Scorpius asked in anger. The server who had stayed behind quickly left.

The woman placed her hand on her hip and raised her brow at him. "And if I did?"

Scorpius walked up to her and came face to face with her, "You don't want to know."

The woman took a deep breath and turned abruptly before marching off. Scorpius was still fuming as he abandoned the blonde made his way back over toward the bar. "Who was that?" Scorpius demanded to Joe.

"Why, that was Rose Weasley," Joe replied.

"Rose Weasley," Scorpius repeated as he pondered his thoughts.

"She comes here everything night," Joe added.

"I don't ever remember seeing her," Scorpius said.

"Maybe you just never noticed her," Joe remarked.

Scorpius' mind was reeling. Despite being a bit put off by the woman's behavior, he could help but be drawn to a certain allure she had. He finished his drink in one swig and placed the glass down before looking at Joe. "Tell me about her," he said, not mentioning her name but knowing all the same that Joe would catch on.

Joe chuckled, "Sorry Mr. Malfoy, but I don't think you'll be able to catch that one."

Scorpius wrinkled his face, _no one could resist him._ "And why is that?"

"With all due respect Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Weasley is a woman of moral. And as much as I enjoy watching your chases, give an old chap some credit when he tells you that this one isn't the one for you," Joe finished.

Scorpius chortled at Joe's comment and waved it off nonchalantly. However, Joe's warnings only made the fire in his stomach burn.

"Watch me," Scorpius said one last time before leaving Joe to chuckle.

Scorpius approached Rose from behind and interrupted the conversation she was having with several other men. "Ahem," he said, causing all eyes to fall on him.

Rose seemed to recognize him from their earlier encounter and waved off the rest of the men before turning to face him. "Quite the amount of admirers," he gestured to the men but his tone made it seem that he wasn't intimated at the least by them.

She suddenly laughed at his comment and for some reason or another, he felt his stomach twist and heart beat faster as her melodious laughter rang through his ears. Instinctively, he felt his lips curl into a small smile, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Those men," she said as she gestured to the group of them, "are my cousins."

Scorpius smirked, "So I take it then that it's safe to ask you for a dance?"

Rose covered her mouth with her hands as she attempted to hold back her laughter. Scorpius tilted his head to one side, still looking charming as ever but wondering all the same of what had set off her laughing episodes.

"I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy but unfortunately for you, I'm not as unaware as you may think.

Scorpius scrunched his face, not unattractively of course. Rose could see his confusion so she leaned forward next to his ear. He could almost feel her lips as she whispered to him. "I can see right through you," she said before pulling back and threw him a wink for good measure before returning to her cousins.

Scorpius was left dumbfounded, never had he been the one to be left speechless. Never. But it took a few seconds for him to recover before a smirk graced his face once again. He walked toward Rose again and this time didn't wait for her to excuse herself. Scorpius pulled her away, her lack of resistance told him she was caught off guard.

They had reached the back alley before she seemed to realize what had happened. "What do you think you doing?" she asked in a haughty tone.

Scorpius moved up close to her, pinning her against the wall. "Just saying good night," he replied before lowering his lips onto her cheek.

And although she had seemed quite confident inside the club, he immediately felt the warmth that entered her cheeks as a blush took over. He smiled at her reaction before moving his lips toward his ears. "Until we meet again, Rose," he said in the most irresistible tone he had.

But before he could see her reaction, he felt an almost familiar but nagging sound pull him away. It was going mad, the sound resonating in his ears and he couldn't make it stop. And just like that, he was pulled into the present time. He immediately sat up, sweat running down his back as he attempted to gather himself. He looked around the room and he was back to his own pristine room. It took him a minute to realize it was all a dream, his alarm becoming more apparent as it had been untouched for the last few minutes. Scorpius reached over and shut it off in one swift motion. His head dropping back onto the soft pillow as he stared at this ceiling. _Why the hell was he dreaming about Rose freaking Weasley?_


	15. Crazy, Crazy, Crazy

**Chapter 15**

Scorpius sat at his station and for the fiftieth time today, April was telling him about some nonsensical tale about her weekend. He didn't mind too much at first, he usually just blocked her out like he usually did and went on with his business but the woman was seriously pushing his limits. He squeezed the bridge of his nose as he continued to stir his potion.

When he heard the squeak of the chair in front of him once more, he swore he was going to snap something in half.

"Oh guess what," April started but was promptly stopped.

Scorpius stood up, "I don't care what you do with your free time for fucks sake!"

April looked taken aback, she had never seen him lose control like that before and it scared her. She slowly backed her chair around and returned to her station without saying a word. However, no one was as scared of Scorpius' reaction as himself. He had never lost his cool like that before and especially not towards a lady. It was his job to keep the charm on, not to mention, one of his rules. But ever since that dream, he couldn't get his head around it. It bothered him to no end that he would dream about Rose in the first place and now she was constantly on his mind.

Suddenly, he noticed a flash of red near the doorway. Rose stood shocked at what had apparently transpired while she was gone. In all honesty, he was a bit surprised to see her in the lab seeing as she had been avoiding him for days after the incident. When April saw that Rose had entered, she quickly excused herself from the room.

"I know she can be a bint sometimes but did you really have to yell at her?" Rose asked softly.

"And you've never done the same?" Scorpius scoffed.

"Well…I…" Rose stuttered. "That's different, at least not in the tone you took with her."

"Whatever works for you Weasley," Scorpius replied coldly. He didn't have to look up much but he could sense her frustration with his behavior. They were never exactly on friendly terms but he was especially hostile today. Which was quite the contrast of what happened a few days ago.

"What the hell is your problem Malfoy?" Rose asked bitterly.

Scorpius chortled, "Since when do you care?"

"Since…" Rose looked around, "Since I'm suppose to make sure everything is running smoothly in the labs. I don't need you two fighting."

"You haven't been down here in four days Weasley and we seem to be doing just fine," Scorpius replied sourly.

At this, Rose immediately turned red. "Sod off Malfoy."

Scorpius snorted, "What, no excuses?"

"You know damn well what you tried to do," Rose replied.

"And what would that be?" Scorpius replied almost nonchalantly as if he hadn't remembered. The truth was, he had remembered everything but still had yet to figure out why he was almost tempted to kiss Rose and if she hadn't stopped him, would he have done it.

When she didn't answer, Scorpius raised an eyebrow at her. She remained silent, looking almost embarrassed to bring the incident up again. "I guess there's nothing to talk about then," he finished.

"The hell there isn't. You better pull you're shit together or you can bet your sorry arse that Powell's going to hear about it," Rose retorted angrily.

Scorpius walked across the lab and toward the door where she was standing. He noticed her small movement of backing away from him as he approached but still enough to hold her stance. Just as he crossed the door frame, he looked back at her, "And what if I don't?"

He walked as quickly as he could to go out for some fresh air. The dingy lab was suffocating. However, as quickly as he had left, Scorpius soon heard a pair of heels following his trail. He didn't need to look back to know that it was Rose. He knew she wouldn't let him have the last word.

When he reached the ground floor, she had caught up. She stepped in front of him and poked her finger to his chest. "I swear to Merlin, Malfoy, if you pull any funny business over me, you'll wish you never stepped foot in here," she whispered in a venomous tone.

Scorpius stared at her for a second before everything went wrong.

* * *

**Rose's POV**

Rose had avoided the lab for the last four days much to the chagrin of Healer Powell. She had given her boss some excuse about wanting to concentrate on her patients for some time and help train the interns. The old Healer seemed to accept that. But she herself could not stick to the regime of avoiding the lab. She loved it down there. So that Tuesday, she decided to bite the dust and go down to the lab.

To her surprise, she walked in on a screaming Scorpius and a terrified looking April. She had never felt more sorry for the girl even if April did annoy her to no end. But what bothered her most were Malfoy's actions. She had decided against her better judgment to engage him in conversation to ask what his problem was. To say that she expected a straight answer from him was farfetched but she was Rose Weasley and couldn't help but question him for his odd behavior.

Of course, she had left the lab angrier than she had entered it and once again, it was no thanks to Scorpius Malfoy. How he managed to push her buttons every time was beyond her and it annoyed her to no end. Especially since he had been on her mind a lot lately ever since the incident.

_Darn the prick and his long legs. _She ran to catch up with him which wasn't exactly an easy feat when one was wearing heels but she did. He was heading for the entrance when she blocked his way.

Rose raised her finger up to his chest and poked it, surprised at how hard his chest was. Although she knew he had played quidditch and probably assumed someone like him would keep in shape, she could help but feel somewhat _bashful _at touching his chest. She wouldn't have admitted it but she wondered what it looked like underneath his shirt and robes.

However, she quickly shook that thought out of her mind. She couldn't let him see just how much she enjoyed it so she kept her finger firm and continued with her threatening glare. And then something odd happened; odd yet somewhat familiar. The way he returned her stare, his usual cool gray eyes turning just a bit darker like that very day.

But in a flash of a second, it didn't matter what was going on in either of their minds.

The only thing she felt when she got up dazedly with the help of the nurses a few moments later was the cool liquid running down her face which she assumed was her blood because her head hurt an awful amount.

"Hmm, waz gun on?" she mumbled as she felt her body being lifted onto a cot. Lights were flashing and people where yelling but all Rose could remember were those heated gray eyes before it all went black.

"Healer Weasley, please stay still. You're okay," she heard people saying.

Rose didn't know what happened but didn't have the energy to ask and drifted back into darkness.

* * *

**Albus' POV**

Albus Potter had been called down to St. Mungos when there was news that a crazy wizard had blasted the front entrance of the hospital down demanding they hand over the evil wizard that killed his wife. By the time he got down there, the man had already been restrained and was established that he was mentally ill. How he had escaped from his room and obtained a wand was a different story but Albus was just glad the perp was caught.

He was about to leave when a nurse had caught him. "Mr. Potter!" she called.

"It's your cousin, Rose," she panted.

"Rose?" Albus asked worriedly.

"She was injured during the attack," she answered.

Albus' fist clenched as he attempted to get through but the nurse stopped him. "I'm sorry Mr. Potter but you won't be able to see her right now."

"But…" Albus started.

"Healer Weasley is fine, just unconscious from hitting her head. But we still need to inform her family. Would you mind letting her parents know?" the nurse asked.

Albus sighed and nodded. The nurse smiled at him gratefully before running back.

Just as he attempted to leave again, this time, he bumped into Astoria Greengrass. "Astoria?" Albus asked, caught off guard at seeing his best mate's mother.

"Oh Albus, thank Merlin you're here. Do you know how Scorpius is doing?" she asked worriedly.

Albus scrunched his face, "Scorpius is here?"

Astoria nodded. "They told me there was an accident and he was caught in the middle of it," she replied before she began to sob.

Albus walked her to the bench before telling her to calm down and explained the situation to her. He told her that Rose had been injured as well and that he had to go tell her parents first but would be right back.

"Albus, do you know why Scorpius was in the hospital in the first place?" Astoria asked.

"Sorry Astoria, I have no idea," Albus sighed before turning to make a quick floo call to his aunt and uncle. But he sure as hell wanted to know why his friend was here as well.

* * *

**Scorpius' POV**

Scorpius slowly fluttered his eyes open at the sound of someone calling him, something he immediately regretted. The light in the room was too bright; _someone was definitely trying to blind everyone. _As he began to raise his arm over his eyes, a sharp pain shot through his body.

He let out a loud grunt before he felt someone ease his arm down. "Scorpius dear, are you okay?" he recognized was his mother's voice.

"Mother?" he asked.

"Oh, he's a awake!" she said before returning her attention to him.

"Don't move Scorpius, you've been injured pretty badly. My poor baby," she said before he heard another pair of footsteps entering the room.

"How're holding up mate?" someone had asked.

Before Scorpius answered anyone, "Can someone dim the damn lights?" And within an instant, the room was dimmer with just enough light to see everyone in the room. Scorpius looked from his mother who appeared very tired to his green-eyed friend.

"Al?" Scorpius asked confusedly. His friend nodded.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked, still not fully alert.

"You got hit pretty hard by a spell. Broken your arm and some bones from the fall. Head took a pretty hard hit too," Albus said as he pointed to his head.

Scorpius chuckled, "I knew you wouldn't be here just for me. Caught the guy? I assume."

Albus smirked, "I see it hasn't effected your head."

"But why were you in the hospital Scorpius? Were you hurt before?" Astoria asked worriedly.

"Yeah, Scorp, what were you doing here?" Albus added.

_Shit. _What was Scorpius going to tell the two of them? That he had been working here for almost two weeks as a potioneer in order to seduce Rose Weasley so that she wouldn't marry her fiancé. His mother still had no idea about his profession and he certainly wasn't about to reveal that to her anytime soon. But Albus was a whole different problem, sure his friend was aware of his job but he wouldn't be so forgiving if he knew Scorpius was here to toy with his cousin's feelings.

"Was just dropping something off," Scorpius replied smoothly. It seemed as if his mother had accepted it, never really interested in business too much to care about the specifics of his job. Albus on the other hand stared at him suspiciously.

"Mother, do you mind getting me some coffee? I'm getting a headache," Scorpius asked, knowing Albus wanted to speak with him alone. She nodded and kissed his forehead before leaving.

When he was sure his mother was out of eyesight, he turned to Albus but before he could get a word out, Albus had already spoken. "Tell me you're not doing what I think it is that you're doing."

"What would that be," Scorpius replied.

"Don't pull that shit with me mate, did you forget I know what you do? And you sure as hell weren't dropping something off. You wouldn't step foot into this hospital unless you needed to and we both know why," Albus said.

"And what makes you think she's the one I'm working on," Scorpius spat.

Albus suddenly bent down and grabbed his collar, "You are my best mate but if you tell me you Rose is one of your stupid missions, you'll probably need another week to recover."

When Scorpius didn't answer, Albus let go of his collar and turned around and kicked the chair. "Damn it Scorp. What the hell!"

"Who set you up for this?" Albus asked when he turned around again.

"You know I don't give out names," Scorpius replied, "And besides, weren't you the one who wanted me to do it in the first place?"

Albus suddenly retracted. "Yeah but I said nevermind, didn't I?"

Scorpius shrugged, "But apparently someone wanted the job done."

* * *

**Albus' POV**

Albus rubbed his eyes as he took a seat onto the chair again, exhausted. Apparently someone knew and had asked Scorpius to go through with the job. When he looked up again, "Is it true what you told me? About Grant?"

Scorpius snorted, "Shouldn't have told you. Then I wouldn't be stuck with having to deal with your cousin."

Albus chuckled but it wasn't any better. He had now confirmed the worst for Rose. That Scorpius' claim had been true all along and Grant was using Rose. He felt even more awful that he had ignored it even if it was Rose who asked him to.

He sighed, "Why are you doing this though? I thought you two hated each other. I doubt any amount of money would have convinced you to take the job. Hell, I wasn't even sure I could have convinced you when I thought of asking you."

"Everything is confidential Al, you know that," Scorpius responded simply.

"Maybe I should just tell her about Grant. Save you both the trouble," Albus said.

"No," Scorpius argued a little too quickly.

Albus looked curiously at Scorpius, that was a pretty quick and firm refusal from his friend for something he was sure Scorpius would have jumped at.

"I have a contract to follow through, I can't breach it. If you want to tell her, at least wait until the contract ends," Scorpius finished.

"Fine, when does the contract end?" Albus asked annoyed.

"The day before her wedding," Scorpius answered.

Albus opened his eyes widely, "Are you mental?"

"Albus Potter!" Astoria called out from the door.

"Sorry Astoria," Albus murmured as Astoria handed over the coffee to her son and one to him.

"Thanks for the coffee," Albus said.

Astoria smiled, "Why don't you go home Albus, I've got it from here."

Albus nodded but not before giving one last stare at his friend. He didn't know what he was going to do but one thing was for sure, he was going to be keeping a closer eye on Scorpius and Rose.

* * *

A/N: Whoo, got the ball rolling on this one. For those of you who are confused thinking that Albus was the one who hired Scorpius based on the previous chapters, let me clear things up if you haven't already figured it out. I seemed to recall quite a few of you believing that that was Albus' big reveal. The thing that Albus wanted Scorpius' progress on was finding the ingredients for the potion used on Liz's chocolates (the ones that Albus surprised her for her birthday). Since Albus knows about Scorpius' job, he was just teasing him since Scorpius was having a really hard time cracking the girl which he usually doesn't. So yeah, hope that clears thing up. Sorry to ruin your expectations, but hey you were right to guess- he really was thinking of doing it at one time! If you have any questions, feel free to ask and as always, please review. I'm really excited to say what you guys have to say about this chapter.


	16. Consuming Thoughts

**Chapter 16**

**Rose's POV**

After the whole commotion with the crazy wizard yesterday, Rose was lucky to be back at work the next day. She needed to get her head cleaned up and was left with a huge headache but thankfully nothing was broken. When she entered the hospital, everything looked like it was back to normal as if nothing had happened. The only problem was that wasn't normal for Rose. Everyone had left yesterday after she had assured them that she was okay and that Grant would look after her.

"Do you want some food?" Grant asked when they arrived home.

Rose shook her head, "I think I'll just go take a bath."

Grant shrugged his shoulders and kissed her forehead before heading into the study. Rose nimbly dropped her bag onto the floor and headed to the bathroom. She set a bath for herself before undressing and entering it. She sat in it for a good hour, letting her muscles relax in the warm water, before she felt her skin pruning.

When she finally finished draining the tub, she walked into her bedroom. She found Grant already sleeping and secretly, she was happy about it. It was as if unconsciously, she was waiting for him to fall asleep before coming out. Rose didn't feel like talking and certainly not wanting to hear a bunch of "Are you okays" from anyone else tonight. But she also couldn't sleep. She couldn't help but replay what had happened in her head. While Grant snored happily next to her on the bed, she was wide-awake looking at her ceiling.

_Did Malfoy really push me out of the way?_ That same question circled her mind and had occupied her for half the night before her headache was too much. But now that she was back in the hospital, the question emerged again.

"Healer Weasley, glad to see you're back up on your feet," Healer Powell said when Rose walked into the healer's office. The old woman had asked Rose to the office shortly after her arrival.

Rose nodded dutifully. "It was only a small cut," even if it wasn't true. The cut was more like a gash but what Scorpius had gone through was much worse and she couldn't bring herself to feel pity.

Healer Powell waved her off. "Nonetheless, I want you to take it easy for next few days. You should go home and rest."

"But Healer Powell, there's no need. Really, I'm fine," Rose refuted.

"It's final. I don't want to hear any arguments, is that understood?" Healer Powell said firmly but with a certain softness in her voice.

Rose nodded once more and began to leave. "Oh Healer Weasley, Henry was looking for you."

Rose managed a smile. She was always happy to meet with Henry, they're talks always calmed her and made her day a little brighter.

"But don't linger around too long! The others have work to do," Healer Powell called out one last time before Rose skipped out of the office.

"Hi Henry, looking for me?" Rose asked when she entered Henry Samuels' room.

"Rose sweetie," Henry said in a wheezing voice before he padded at the chair next to his bed.

"Amy told me about the incident yesterday. Are you alright dear?" Henry asked in a slightly worried tone.

"Couldn't be better," Rose said. He must have been the hundredth person to ask her that question but for some reason, she didn't seem to mind. Maybe it was because she knew he was being genuine when he asked.

After the pleasantries, Henry pressed her for news about how her life was going. Rose hadn't realized this but she quickly skipped past her wedding details and Grant. There wasn't much to talk about other than the fact that she was getting married in under two weeks and that her cousin Victoire had practically set up the entire wedding for her so there wasn't much to worry about. All she had to do was show up, slip into the dress and walk down the aisle. _Not too exciting indeed._

"Well how's that Malfoy fellow doing?" Henry asked. "Haven't seen him for a while," he winked, not realizing that Scorpius was probably somewhere down the hall lying in a bed.

Rose's eyes widened in realization that she had yet to visit him or say thank you, _even if he was a Malfoy._ Henry seemed to notice the change in her behavior, "Is there something wrong Rose?"

She snapped back to reality, "It's nothing Henry."

After a moment of silence, she turned to Henry again. "Do you think you could ever save someone who you hated like if it was your very nature to do so?"

Henry wrinkled his face, "That's an odd question."

Rose shook her head, "No you're right, nevermind I asked."

"Rose, does this have anything to do with Malfoy?" Henry asked.

"Scorpius," Rose found herself automatically correcting Henry.

Henry smiled, "Is there something you want to tell me about Scorpius?"

"Well, I…" Rose started.

"Healer Weasley, I just received a mail from your fiancé," Heather the receptionist interrupted.

Rose breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure how to explain her relationship with Scorpius to Henry. She nodded thanks to Heather before looking at Henry again. "I've got to go Henry, take care of yourself and I'll see you soon."

Henry smiled as she stood from the chair. Just as she began to walk to the door, he stopped her. "Rose, if there was someone who needed saving and I was capable of it, I would. Even if I hated that person to the very core," he paused. "But I would happily sacrifice myself to save someone I loved," Henry said thoughtfully.

Rose felt her stomach clench at Henry's almost eerie comment. _What exactly was he implying? _But she simply nodded in response and continued to walk.

"There's probably more to Scorpius than meets the eye," Henry said with a twinkle in his eye.

Rose scrunched her face, confused at why Henry was saying these things. Nonetheless, she had to leave before Healer Powell caught her lingering and had resort to banning her from the hospital until she was allowed to return.

When Rose reached the receptionist area, Heather handed her the letter from Grant. _Going out with the guys tonight, won't be home for dinner._ Rose rolled her eyes from the messily written note from her fiancé. It wasn't like she had just gotten hit in the head and would have liked it for her fiancé to take care of her a bit. Although the sensitivity would have been nice, in all honesty, Rose didn't care. She already had too much on her mind. The wedding was stressful enough.

Before long, she felt her stomach growling. She looked at the clock and realized it was already noon. Her talk with Henry must have lasted longer than she thought. Since it was a Wednesday, there was probably no one available for an impromptu lunch so she decided she would just go to the hospital cafeteria. There was no way Powell would refuse her lunch.

Rose dragged her feet along the line and methodically grabbed a sandwich and an apple along with her usual peppermint coffee. She found the closest seat and settled her tray onto the sterile table.

"Rose Weasley?" a voice came from the other side of the table.

Rose looked up and saw a pair of blue eyes staring back at her. The woman had shiny blond hair and possessed an air of aristocracy with her. However upon closer inspection, she realized there was softness in her eyes that distinguished her from the usual spoiled pure bloods. This woman looked oddly familiar. And then it hit her.

"Mrs. Malfoy?" Rose asked warily, slowly recognizing the woman's features.

Astoria chuckled, "Please, call me Astoria, I've haven't been Mrs. Malfoy for over a decade."

"Oh, right," Rose said, remembering that Scorpius' parents had divorced while he was at Hogwarts. She even remembered Albus begging her to act nicer around Scorpius during that time. She had tried to act nice but quickly stopped when she realized Scorpius wasn't all that interested in letting up their feud.

Astoria asked her about her family and life. Something Rose was a bit reluctant to do, not because she didn't want Astoria prying but because she was uncomfortable talking to her while her son lied in bed because of her. And she was sure Scorpius had mentioned an abundance of unkind comments about her.

However, it was quickly disproved. In fact, Astoria was surprised to hear that Rose was actually a Healer in the hospital. "Oh do you think you can take a look at Scorpius for me? The other healers said he would be fine but I would feel better if you could take a look as well. I know Scorpius use to always tell me how _annoyingly _smart you were," she said with a chuckle.

"I really shouldn't Mrs…Astoria," she felt weird just saying her first name when she was barely on a first name basis with her son who was at least the same age as her. "His healers probably know what's best and I really should be going."

"Oh but you must Rose, just one look. I'm sure he'd be surprise to see you. You two probably haven't seen each other since graduation," Astoria insisted.

Rose almost spat her coffee at the poor woman. _Haven't seen each other since graduation? Did Scorpius not tell his mother they were working together? _Instead, she swallowed the coffee and coughed loudly.

"Are you okay Rose?" Astoria said, looking at her worriedly.

Rose waved her off, "I'm fine, I'm fine. Coffee went down the wrong way."

"Shall we?" Astoria asked while she stood up.

Rose nodded. She hadn't wanted to go but her curiosity was killing her. _Malfoy was keeping his mother in the dark about his job and about them working together._ Suddenly a smirk became her, there was something Scorpius was hiding and she was ravenous in finding out just what.

The two women walk through the halls until they reached Scorpius' room. Rose had to make sure Healer Powell didn't see her and so must have looked pretty suspicious to Astoria. The moment they entered the room, Rose rolled her eyes. Typical that he would be put in a room himself, _pompous spoiled prat._

"Scorpius, guess who I found," Astoria said in a singsong voice when she peeled back the blinds.

* * *

A/N: Hehe sorry to spoil your fun. Not much ScoRo interaction in this chapter I know, but Henry's back! But I promise there will be more scene between Scorpius and Rose in the next chapter. Hope you liked it and please review! Oh, I have to say a big thanks to everyone who reviewed on my last chapter. WOW, way more than I had expected so thanks and I'm happy you enjoyed it.


	17. Repaying a Debt

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day!

HOLY MOLY! You guys are awesome, thank you for the overwhelming amount of charming reviews even though it was a slow filler chapter. And so to repay the favor, this chapter is FULL of some good old fashion Scorp/Rose banter and tension. I hope you guys will like it. Oh and this chapter takes off right after the last one so it might be good to reread. As always, please review. I look forward to what you lovely people have to say.**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Rose's POV **

"Scorpius, guess who I found," Astoria said in a singsong voice when she peeled back the blinds.

"It's Ro…" Astoria started but paused once she saw that Scorpius' bed was empty. She scrunched her face while Rose stood hesitantly behind her, trying to peak over the woman.

Once Rose saw that Scorpius was not in his bed, "They probably took him for testing. And I should probably get going before Healer Powell throws me out." Rose gave Astoria an apologizing smile before she backed away.

Astoria smiled, "Stop by later when you can."

Rose quickly waved goodbye without saying another word. _That was a close one._ Rose didn't know what she was thinking; part of her really wanted to see how he was doing but the other part just got her riled up. _Who gave him the right to save her? And now she couldn't get him out of her head._

As she turned the corner, she bumped into something hard, or rather, _someone. _"Excuse me," she started before she found her eyes meeting the gray eyes of someone she had just barely missed.

He had a smirk on his face of course; the bloke always had the annoying smirk on his face as if it was permanently glued onto his perfect face. But Rose didn't know what to say to him. She didn't particularly feel like being nasty to him seeing as he did save her, but it's not like she normally had much to say to him besides their normal banter.

Thankfully, he saved her the trouble, "Fancy seeing you here Weasley."

And just like that, the tone he took with her made her forget why she was ever thinking of holding back her tongue. "Well get use to it, I work here," she retorted.

Scorpius scoffed, "I meant on the spell damage floor. _You _work on the potions and plant poisoning floor."

Rose felt her cheeks blush when she figured what he was trying to say. He on the other hand had a mischievous glint in his eyes, having seen her come to the realization. "Is there something you would like to say to me?" he asked nonchalantly.

"I…" Rose started but couldn't finish.

"Didn't Mummy ever teach you manners? When someone saves you Weasley, you have to do something," Scorpius said smugly.

Rose sighed; she would be the bigger person and thank him, even if it was against her very nature. "Thank you," she said, the words feeling foreign in her mouth.

She quickly turned to leave but felt herself stopped when he grabbed her wrist. His touch felt warm, despite their nature towards each other. Rose looked from their contact to his eyes, her previous thought quickly escaping her. "What Malfoy?"

"Back to being a bitch I see," he smirked before dropping her wrist. Despite being annoyed that Scorpius was holding her up, she couldn't fully deny that she enjoyed their contact and the warmth that surged through her when he grabbed her wrist.

"Some of us have places to be," she retorted.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "Come off it Weasley, we both know Powell's taken you off services for this week. And if you were doing work, you wouldn't be on this floor."

Rose felt herself retracting, blushing again. "What do you want Malfoy?" she asked a little loudly this time; growing impatient and a little angry that he would humiliate her like that.

"I wasn't looking for a 'Thank you' Weasley," Scorpius replied while looking at his nails.

Rose scrunched her eyes at him, trying to figure out what he was on. _If he didn't want a "thank you," what did he want? _

"You don't expect me to bow down and serve you now do you Malfoy?" Rose chortled.

Scorpius smiled, "Actually, that would be great."

"What?" Rose bellowed, causing people around them to momentarily stare at the two of them.

"I don't like the healers on this floor; bunch of tossers they are," he said, still looking at his nails.

"You can take their place," he added, looking up from his nails. His voice was as steady as ever.

Rose's jaw fell open, "Surely you jest Malfoy."

"I don't look like I am, do I?" he said with a raised eyebrow.

Rose felt her anger rising, who was he to order her to essentially be _his healer._ "No," she said coldly.

"No? I should think you would show some more gratitude for your savior," he said, Rose could here the laughter in his words.

Rose folded her arms with a smug smile; "You yourself said Powell's taken me off the rotation this week."

Scorpius simply stared at her with a bored expression, "So you could look after me."

Rose dropped her jaw in awe; half angry that she was put in this position but half shock that Malfoy had personally requested her to be his healer.

And before she could respond, he began walking away. She stood for a few seconds before she saw him turn his head. "Coming Weasley?" he asked.

She stood disbelieving that he had expected her to accept his request. "I'm hungry, see you in the cafeteria," he said smirking before he continued sauntering down the hall.

* * *

**Scorpius' POV**

Scorpius waited until Rose finally showed up, she looked confused as to why she had followed him but he just smiled. "I've already ate," Rose announced before turning to sit at an empty table.

Just as she was about to sit, Scorpius cleared his throat and held up his slung arm. Rose growled before reluctantly getting up and grabbing a plate for him. After a second, he noticed she grabbed a second plate. When she saw him looking, she shrugged, "What? You don't expect to me to just sit and watch you eat."

When they reached the register, Scorpius had cut in front of Rose and handed enough money for the both of them to the witch behind the counter. He watched as Rose stood in shock. "Close your mouth Weasley, you might catch a fly."

He walked toward a table and pulled the chair out, her heels stomping right behind him. She slammed the trays down, her hand on her hips as she waited for an explanation. Scorpius instead, pulled out a fork and began eating. After a minute of silence, she must have realized he wasn't going to say anything unless she asked.

"What the hell was that Malfoy?" Rose asked, steaming.

"Your hands were full," he replied.

He watched as Rose reached into her pockets and pulled out a few galleons, "Not anymore," she said, slamming the coins onto the table.

Scorpius snorted, "No need to pay me for my company Weasley, I know I'm nice to look at. Fortunately for you, I'm like charity work."

"Ugh, you insufferable toerag!" Rose screamed before grabbing her chips and spun the other way, walking out of the cafeteria.

All eyes were on him but he just shrugged. "Mental, that one," addressing the whole room before chuckling to himself.

When Scorpius finished lunch, he returned to his room and found his mother sitting on the chair reading a Witch Weekly. He rolled his eyes, why his middle-aged mother was reading a magazine meant for over-excited teen girls was beyond him.

"Oh Scorpius dear, you're back," she said, looking up from the publishing when he entered the room.

He nodded before jumping onto his bed, placing his uninjured arm behind his head as he closed his eyes.

"You know, I bumped into Rose Weasley today. She works here in the hospital as a healer," his mother said excitedly.

Scorpius hummed at his mother's statement. If he was going to uphold his secret, he had to act as nonchalant as possible and not bring anything up. Soon enough, his mother would lose interest.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I received a letter from Albus today. He said he would be stopping by later dear," Astoria continued.

Scorpius sighed; he really didn't want to deal with Albus today. It was bad enough that he friend now knew about his situation with Rose. After another half an hour of chatter, Astoria bid him goodbye and took off.

* * *

"Surprise!" Liz announced while poking her head from behind the door. She walked over to Scorpius' bed and placed the vase of flowers on the nightstand next to him. He watched as Albus followed from behind with a smile on his face.

"Al told me about what happened. Thought we would drop by before we went out on our date," Liz said smiling at Albus.

"No big deal Liz. Just took a fall s'all," Scorpius replied, while keeping his eyes trained on Albus for the most part. He was attempting to gage his friend's mood and trying to pull anything he could from those emerald eyes of Albus Potter.

"Liz, could you give us a minute?" Albus finally said after some talk about work. Liz nodded before giving a peck on Albus' cheek.

The two friends sat silently for a moment before Scorpius cleared his throat. "I see everything's going well for you two," he started, breaking the silence.

Albus nodded but stayed silent. Scorpius sighed, "Look Al, this wasn't my idea."

"I just don't understand," Al mumbled.

Scorpius scoffed, "I told you everything already."

Albus shook his head. "I just don't understand how you could stoop so low Scorp. I mean, I know about the feud between you two but even so, I never thought you would purposely hurt her like this," he continue, his voice laced with disappointment.

Scorpius frowned; somehow, what Albus said had hit a chord. "I don't want to hurt her," Scorpius admitted, albeit confused at the words coming out of his mouth.

Albus looked up at him, "You don't?"

"I…I have a job to do Al," Scorpius said.

He watched as his friend's shoulders fall at his last statement. He could see that Albus wanted to say something but fortunately, Liz had returned to the room. The tense atmosphere was gone and he could see that Albus no longer had the strength to say whatever he was going to say.

"I'll see you around," Albus said just before the couple left. Scorpius didn't look at him; he only nodded while staring at his hands.

* * *

**Rose's POV**

She had been standing outside the hall for a good ten minutes, confused at why she was actually following up on it. Not to mention, the fact that she had dressed up a bit, quite the contrast to the normal healer robes she usually adorned on the job.

_I'm only doing my job. He's my patient. Pull yourself together. _Rose repeated this to herself over the past ten minutes. She took one more breath and placed a foot inside the room before she lost her nerve and started to turn around. But it was too late; he had seen her.

"Weasley, you're late," she could hear his voice as it drawled out the words lazily.

"Excuse me if I would rather be in your presence as little as possible," the words coming easily to her as she walked into the room. Bantering with Malfoy was always easy.

Scorpius snorted, "You know you were looking forward to this all day. Must be better than staying home with your wanker boyfriend."

"That's _fiancé _to you," Rose corrected. "And how do you know about Grant?"

Rose watched as Scorpius tensed slightly before shrugging, "Albus must have mentioned it."

"He's away," Rose said after a moment of silence.

"What?" Scorpius asked, looking up from his newspaper.

"Grant," Rose replied. "Nevermind," she said shaking her head. She reached for his chart and looked it over, nodding along as she read the papers. Everything was fine; all she needed to do was to change his dressing.

She slowly walked to up him, waiting for him to notice her. When he continued to ignore her, "Malfoy, I need to change your dressing," she said with an angry huff.

"Could have just said so Weasley," he replied with a smug look.

Rose sucked in her breath through her teeth while looking at him venomously. _Keep your cool Rose. This will all be over soon._

She slowly peeled back his hospital gown, revealing his chiseled chest. She suddenly felt like she was having a seizure, her hands were trembling and she couldn't tear her eyes away. Rose could see that he was enjoying her reaction but at the moment, she didn't care. After his whole chest was revealed, she continued to peel back the gauze on his left pectoral. She felt her breath hitch slightly when she saw the large scar with a bruise circling the area. That could have been her if he hadn't pushed her out of the way.

Rose reached for the cream that needed to be applied and dipped her fingers into the container before applying some onto Scorpius' chest. She quickly decided it was nothing when she thought she heard him sigh at her touch. Her fingers pulsed as they massaged the cream and before she knew it, her hand started to stray. Rose suddenly felt her heartbeat speed up and it wasn't until then that she realized how quiet the room had been. She hastily retracted her hand, wondering what had led her to wander over his chest. She had hoped that her pretense of applying the cream would cover her.

"Like what you saw Weasley?" Scorpius' voice rang through her ears.

Rose felt herself blush for a second before she realized whom she was talking to. Of course the arrogant prick would find some way to bring up how good he looked. Even in a hospital gown for Merlin's sake. She immediately grabbed the new gauze from the table and slammed it onto his chest, sealing it up.

"Damn it woman! That hurt," Scorpius exclaimed, clutching his chest.

"Something wrong?" Rose feigned innocence.

"You did that on purpose," Scorpius relayed, smirking slightly.

Rose packed up the materials and placed his chart back. "I don't know what you're talking about Malfoy," she said as she began walking out of the room.

"See you at lunch," Scorpius added.

Rose stopped just outside the room, feeling a small smile becoming her face before taking off.


	18. Be My Date?

**Chapter 18- Be My Date?**

"What?" she asked as she readied her fork to take a bite of her salad.

Scorpius shook his head and looked at his own food. He had been staring at her on and off for the past ten minutes. He had been surprised to see that she was already sitting at the same table they sat at last time when he arrived. But nonetheless joined her after getting his food. She was already busy eating and reading her patient files. Of course she wasn't on active duty for the next five days but leave it to Rose to stay on top of her work.

They hadn't said much to each other as they each ate silently. She had her files to keep her busy while he on the other hand had time to wander. Each time he looked at her, he found something new he never noticed before. First, it was the way she creased her brow when she was confused about something. It was as much amusing to see Rose Weasley confused, as it was adorable. Then he noticed how she tended to twirl her hair when she was somewhat bored, she had breezed through those files. And the last thing he had noticed before she caught him was the way she bit her lips when she was concentrating. For some reason, it drove him crazy when she did it and he didn't know why.

"You seem pretty close to your Mum," she suddenly stated, looking up just slightly to indicate that she was talking to him.

He was caught off by the question and quite frankly; he hadn't expected her to be the first one to talk.

"I suppose," he answered.

She creased her brow for a moment before going back to her papers. Scorpius stared at her again, unsure of her intentions and what she had expected from him.

"What?" he asked, somewhat amused at her single random interaction with him.

What do you mean what?" she asked.

Scorpius chortled, "You mention my mother out of nowhere and then go back to reading files like nothing was exchanged."

She shrugged, "You obviously don't want to talk about it."

It was now Scorpius' turn to be confused, "What are you on Weasley? You say one thing to me in the last ten minutes and then decide for me about what I do and don't want to talk about."

"Well you obviously don't want to talk about it if you're lying," she accused.

"Talk about what? Merlin you're difficult!" Scorpius seethed.

Rose slammed the file down and moved in closer to him, "Why was your mother so surprised when I told her I worked here?"

Scorpius felt his heart skip a beat, caught off by the question. Luckily, he'd had years of experience dealing under pressure. "Why? Are you disappointed I chose to leave you out of our conversations?" Scorpius asked smoothly.

He watched, as she hastily pulled back, "No, why would I be, it's not like I care what you say to your mother." She immediately went back to reading her files, pushing some stray hairs behind her ear.

"But if you must know Weasley," he started. He felt her muscles tense as he drew his chair closer to hers. He kept silent for a moment and he could tell she was holding her breath as she waited for him to finish his sentence.

"Keep wearing those clothes and I just might have to tell her about you," he finished with a smirk.

She had pushed out her chair sharply, most definitely readying herself to inflict some type of pain on him but Scorpius had thought ahead. He had left the second the last word came out of his mouth. The last thing he saw was the crimson red blush that was on Rose Weasley's face.

* * *

Scorpius looked around the corner to see if she had followed him. Thankfully, there were no signs of red anywhere, which meant he managed to escape her wrath for the time being. He'd just turn around when he bumped into someone. He was in fact quite familiar with the man's face, almost identical to his best friend except for the man's hazel eyes. "Wandering around places you shouldn't be, as always," Scorpius said.

"No one minds, I'm James Potter," James replied easily, puffing his chest out slightly. Scorpius scoffed. If there was anyone in the world who was more smug than him, it'd have to be James Potter. He wasn't exactly on bad terms with James like he was with Rose since Albus was his best friend and Scorpius had visited the Potter residence quite a few times during the years.

"And what may I ask are you doing here?" James asked with a raised brow.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, holding up his slung arm, "Dense much, Potter?"

"Well, well, looks like Malfoy's gotten himself hurt. I do hope it was a girl," James smirked, obviously aware of Scorpius' history with sleeping around as most of the Potter/Weasleys were since they had all attended Hogwarts together.

Scorpius chortled, "You wish."

"Well as much as I enjoyed talking to you, I'd much rather do what I came here to do in the first place," James said.

Scorpius saluted with two fingers and continued to walk down the hall before James had called him again. "Oi Malfoy, you dropped something!" James said.

Scorpius turned around before snatching the envelope from James' hand and slipping it into his pocket. "Don't I get a thank you?" James called out jokingly.

"Never Potter," Scorpius replied with a chuckle.

* * *

**Rose's POV**

"Hey Red," James called when he had spotted her.

"James," she greeted simply.

"That's no way to greet your favorite cousin," James joked as he held out his arms.

Rose rolled her eyes before jumping into his arms. "I take it you guys had fun? Oh and thanks for _stealing_ my fiancé," Rose said sarcastically.

James roared with laughter. "Those tickets were non refundable and how was I suppose to know you were going to get yourself knocked out by a crazy wizard?"

James, Grant and some of their other friends had gone to Switzerland for a ski trip for the last few days. Apparently the tickets were booked a while ago and could not be refunded. Grant hadn't particularly wanted to go after her accident but she told him she would be fine. Although she had felt slighted by his decision to go (_even though she said it was okay_), in the end, she enjoyed the few days she had to herself.

"So, how's my favorite cousin doing?" James asked.

"We all know you and Freddie are inseparable," Rose retorted.

"Favorite female cousin," James corrected with a smirk.

"It's quite alright though, you're my second favorite too," Rose smiled.

"Oi, that's not a nice thing to say to a bloke," James said with his hand over his heart, feigning hurt but laughing all the same.

"Well, he has visited me more than you have," Rose retorted, referring to Albus.

"Touché," James replied. "How about I take you out for dinner tonight, my treat," he offered.

Rose chuckled, "How could I refuse?"

"Feel free to invite Kyle as well," he winked.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Ugh, I knew it was too good to be true. James, why don't you just ask her out yourself?"

"Who said anything about asking her out, just thought I'd take my two favorite girls out for dinner," James held out his hands and smirked.

"Fine, I'll see if she's available tonight," Rose sniggered before swatting his arm.

* * *

"Okay, you're slowly making your way to being my favorite cousin," Rose said when she saw the restaurant James had taken her to.

James laughed before placing his arm on her shoulder, "So I see I can bribe my way to the top, interesting."

They entered the five star restaurant and were immediately taken to the table James had reserved for the three of them. They took their seats first; Kyle was running late and would be joining them later.

"So, do you think she'd agree to go to the ball with me?" James asked while taking a sip of his fire whiskey. Rose had opted for something lighter.

"You know James, for someone who is so confident, you sure are shy around her," Rose said smugly before taking a sip of her drink.

"I'm sure she'll agree," she added with a smile.

"Who's agreeing to what now?" a voice suddenly interrupted.

Rose immediately jumped up and hugged her friend. "Hey love," James winked from the corner of the seat before getting up to hug her as well.

"I was just telling James how he needed to lower his ego," Rose smirked, "And of course, you would agree."

"Oh definitely," Kyle said before stealing a sip of James' fire whiskey.

"Hey, get your own," James protested without much conviction.

Kyle leaned forward. "I'll tell you what James, how about you go get me a drink and I'll think about my answer to the question you're going to ask me later," she said with a wink.

Rose muffled her laugh, her friend was always one step ahead of James and was quite aware of his affections toward her and usually used it to her advantage. James scowled but nonetheless left the table to fetch the drink.

When he had finally left the table, Kyle immediately zoomed onto Rose and grabbed her arm. "Has he done anything else since last time?" she asked eagerly.

Rose bit her lip; Kyle was referring to Scorpius and their last meeting at the ice cream shop. She had actually forgotten about him for tonight but it seemed like her friend had no intention of letting her go without an answer. Rose couldn't exactly tell her friend what was going on, it was too much and frankly, she didn't know what was happening either. _How exactly does one go about telling their best friend that the boy who she hated the most while growing up, saved her life? __Exactly. _There was no point in bringing up something Rose couldn't explain herself. "He hasn't done anything since," she answered simply.

Kyle frowned, obviously disappointed with the lack of gossip. "Damn, I really wanted to hex him," she said with a smug smile, "Or see Grant beat him up."

Rose chuckled nervously, "Yeah."

Thankfully, James had returned with the drinks and Rose was relieved with having to explain anything else.

"Thought you might like something with more substance," James said when he placed three fire whiskeys onto the table, eyeing Rose.

Rose instantly grabbed a bottle and took a large gulp of it. When she placed the bottle down, James and Kyle were both staring at her, slightly surprised at her impulsiveness.

"Well okay, let the fun begin," James chuckled before Kyle swatted him.

"What? I was thirsty," Rose replied meekly.

After a few more drinks, Rose and Kyle were definitely both drunk; although Rose slightly more since she had a lower alcohol tolerance than her friend. James was surprisingly only a bit tipsy. He had held his alcohol for the most part and Rose had an inkling that he was holding it back long enough so he wouldn't make a fool of himself when he asked Kyle to accompany him to the annual ministry ball. All the important people in the magical community were invited which naturally meant her whole family would be attending.

Ever so sweetly, her cousin James had wanted to ask her friend out for a few years now but something always came up, and the timing was never right. Rose felt lucky that she had Grant and wouldn't have to deal with looking for a date for these important functions now.

"Kyle love, would you accompany me to the ministry ball this Sunday?" James asked in what Rose was sure her cousin's most charming voice. Of course Kyle knew all his tricks but it certainly didn't hurt.

"Why, is James Potter asking me out?" Kyle asked, acting surprised before she burst into laughter after seeing his slightly worried face.

"Of course I will you git," she replied.

James immediately brightened up and returned to his normal buoyant self, "Excellent."

The three of them had a few more drinks before they finally called it a night. James and Kyle dropped Rose off at her apartment first since she looked like she was about to pass out.

"Someone's had a fun night," Grant said as he carried her to their bed after bidding goodnight to James and Kyle.

"Hey, you had your fun last week," Rose slurred with a smile.

Grant chuckled, "Fair enough, I won't say anything tonight. But that doesn't mean I can't bring this up in the future when you're berating me for coming home drunk."

"Deal!" Rose laughed before planting a kiss on his lips.

"Oh and I'm going to need a date to the ball. Do you have any ideas, Mr. Barnes?" Rose asked.

"What about your fiancé?" Grant asked, playing along.

Rose feigned thinking, "I don't think he'll mind."

"Well in that case," Grant said as he pulled her close him, "How about we go together?"

Rose giggled. "I would love to," she said before taking a hold of his face and pulled him down to deepen their kiss.

* * *

A/N: Like the early update eh? Okay, probably not the ending you guys were expecting but hey, she did agree to marry Grant so don't be surprised she actually loves him even if Scorpius' presence has been confusing her. Also, had a request from a few chapter back from someone who wanted to see Kyle again and I decided to develop her a bit more. And of course, it's always a bit more fun when James Sirius Potter is around, with some ScoRose thrown in there as well. Let me know what you think, and as always, appreciate all the reviews (THANKS FOR THE OVER 200!)


	19. Gone

**Chapter 19- Gone**

As soon as Scorpius was alone in his room again, he pulled out the envelope that he had received that day. He knew whom it was from, of course. He opened the flap and delicately removed the heavy paper from its containing. Written in gold embossment, "_You are invited to the Annual Ministry Ball." _Below this was the date and time, which dictated that the ball was to take place two days from today.

There was nothing new about this letter; he'd seen it all before. In fact, he usually attended it with his mother anyway. But his mother hadn't sent this one. Scorpius sighed; although there were no further instructions, he knew what it meant. He knew as well as anybody that all the Potters and Weasleys would be at the function, most importantly, Rose would be there.

When he heard the doorknob turn, he quickly hid the invitation under his pillow. The heavy stomps immediately let him know who it was; she was obviously still cross with him with the comment he made earlier in the cafeteria. As soon as she saw him, she pointed her finger at him. "Don't even think about saying a word," she said with malice. He continued to smirk as she grabbed the chart and took a brief glance.

"If I would have known that I would be suffering this torture, I would have just taken the wand and shot myself with it," Rose muttered.

"What's that Weasley?" Scorpius smirked, enjoying himself. If looks could kill, Scorpius would have been dead. Rose was currently staring daggers at him.

Rose pulled out her wand and for a second, he thought she might hex him but he quickly realized she was just changing his dressing with magic. Scorpius found himself frowning a bit when she decided to make the process quicker with magic and promptly stepped out of the room the minute she was finished without another word. Oddly, the last thought he had before closing his eyes was that he hoped she wasn't giving him the silent treatment again.

He didn't see Rose again for the rest of the night. A nurse had informed him that she had gone out with her cousin and was taking the rest of the night off. She had offered to help him but he declined. _It wasn't exactly hard to change one's dressings, especially is one was a wizard with a wand. _By the evening, Scorpius was getting rather restless and decided to take a stroll. When he had finished walking around his floor, he decided to go to the next floor.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," someone had called.

Scorpius snapped his head to the left, taking a second to place the familiar voice to a face. When he realized who it was, he walked toward the room.

"Mr. Samuels, how are you doing tonight?" Scorpius asked the old man.

"Please, call me Henry. I'm rather bored actually, what about you?" Henry said.

Scorpius chuckled. "You could say the same," before holding up his slung arm.

"You could be worse," Henry motioned around himself. Scorpius nodded in agreement before taking a seat on the chair next to the bed.

"You're quite brave Mr. Malfoy," Henry started.

Scorpius scrunched his face in confusion. "Not just anyone would push someone out of the way from an oncoming spell," Henry explained with an odd smile.

"Did Rose tell you?" Scorpius asked, somewhat surprised.

Henry chuckled, "Not exactly."

Scorpius felt himself slump back on the chair. They were both silent for a moment before Henry spoke again. "Tell me something, Mr. Malfoy," he started.

"Scorpius," Scorpius corrected.

"Scorpius, what are your intentions towards Rose?" Henry asked.

He hadn't asked in an accusatory tone but it nonetheless made Scorpius somewhat uncomfortable. He couldn't help but ask, "How do you mean?" somewhat defensively.

"When you're stuck in a bed for the better amount of the day, you become quite observant," Henry said, not quite answering his question.

"I've know Rose for a long time and so I know when something's changed. And I would say the change happened sometime around your arrival. She seems more lively these days, like someone is always keeping her on her feet," Henry continued.

"She's getting married soon," he suddenly said.

Scorpius looked up at this solitary statement as if Henry was implying something. "I'm aware," Scorpius replied solemnly.

"Reminds me of Marta, my wife. She use to keep me on my toes all the time, firecracker that one," Henry said almost dreamily.

"And that was before I found out she was a witch!" Henry chuckled.

"She broke my heart when she left, six years ago. Sometimes I wonder if it wasn't the fatty foods that caused my heart disease," Henry mumbled.

"My father left when I was twelve," Scorpius found himself admitting.

Henry gave him a sad but warm smile and he couldn't help but continue. "Mother was so broken and growing up, I know…I know about heartbreak."

_It's all I know, _Scorpius thought.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Henry started.

"Don't be, he left," Scorpius cut in.

"I'm sorry to hear that that was all you ever knew," Henry finished.

Scorpius hadn't noticed but his knuckles had gone white from clutching the arm of the chair. He suddenly stood up from the chair and began walking out the door.

"I'm sorry if I offended you," Henry started, causing Scorpius to freeze.

"But I won't ever apologize for knowing what love is," Henry finished. And as if he had been waiting for the needle to finally drop, Scorpius rushed out of the room.

"I'll see you soon love," Henry whispered in the darkness of his room.

* * *

"Darling, wake up. Scorpius!" Astoria cried.

Scorpius felt himself being shaken roughly before he sat up. He immediately felt the sweat that had coated his back, realizing that he'd just had a bad dream. He looked around before his mother held him.

"Oh Thank Merlin! I was so worried," she said.

Scorpius chuckled bemusedly; his mother was easily the most worrisome person. "What happened?" Scorpius asked, deciding to humor her. He knew she would start exaggerating everything soon enough.

"You were tossing and turning quite violently," someone who he hadn't noticed yet said.

Scorpius quickly turned to face her. "Nothing to worry about though, probably just a bad dream," she said.

Scorpius suddenly noticed her stony disposition. Her sentence wasn't laced with malice like he'd imagine it would be after yesterday but that wasn't exactly good. He didn't even hear a hint of smugness from her catching him having a bad dream like a twelve year old. Instead, all he saw was absence. Her eyes weren't the vibrant blue he was use to looking at; they were dark and empty.

"I had Rose come take a look at you," Astoria interrupted his thoughts.

"Looks like everything is fine Ms. Greengrass," Rose said.

"Astoria, please call me Astoria," she said with a smile, and unlike him, unaware of the fact that Rose just wanted to leave the room.

Rose nodded before turning to leave and while Scorpius continued to stare at the exit, Astoria Greengrass observed her son's behavior toward the woman who he claimed to have hated during school. He hadn't done much, didn't even go after her- _it didn't take a genius to notice something was wrong with Rose- _but his face said it all.

* * *

**Rose's POV**

Rose had gotten up with a pounding headache the next day; she was certainly regretting the extra fire whiskeys Kyle had convinced her to drink last night. Luckily, she was able to get to work on time (even if Malfoy was her only patient, she still needed to stay on top of her work) after drinking the pepper up potion Grant had prepared for her.

And despite the annoying tactics Scorpius was sure to use on her, she was feeling quite good after spending some time with her best friend and cousin last night. However, her mood was immediately dampened when Healer Powell had called her the moment she stepped foot into the hospital.

"Weasley, a word," she said. The woman's voice was still as stern as ever but Rose couldn't help but notice something different about her. She looked more tired than usual and somehow, with a little less life in her.

Rose followed her obediently into her office. Powell motioned for her to take a seat before leaning against her desk. She took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose and it wasn't until then that Rose noticed the bloodshot eyes of Amelia Powell. "Is something wrong Healer Powell?"

"Rose, I'm sorry to have to tell you this…" Healer Powell began explaining. But for the next five minutes, Rose felt as if she had left her body and was watching herself listen to Powell instead. The words were muddled but she had caught enough to understand what Powell was saying. She hadn't even felt the tears that were falling down her cheeks until there was almost a small puddle of it on her hand. And when Powell handed her a paper, she didn't even notice. The only reason she hadn't dropped it was because her hands were clenched so tight, she was sure her nails would soon cause her to bleed. When Powell was finally finished, Rose only nodded before standing up. She didn't sob, she didn't say a word; she was numb.

Rose sat in her office for quite some time before she remembered she was holding something. Her tears were long dried and if one didn't know any better, they would think she was the same Rose as she was yesterday. She was about to read what was written on the paper when there was a knock on the door. Rose quickly slipped the folded paper into her pocket and announced for the person to come in.

"Healer Weasley. Mr. Malfoy's mother would like you to take a look at him. I examined him and it seems like he's only having a bad dream but she insisted I come get you," the nurse explained.

Rose nodded before standing up. Which was easier said than done, her body felt as if there were ten tons of bricks holding her down.

* * *

**Scorpius' POV**

Scorpius didn't see Rose for the rest of the day. She wasn't there to meet him in the cafeteria and unsurprisingly, another Healer had come to check up on him today. There was nothing wrong with him of course, by the time the ball came; he would be as good as new. His mother had stayed longer then she usually did even though he assured her he was fine. She didn't say much but he could tell she was watching him for an awfully long time.

"Shall I wait for you to pick me on Sunday or should I go on ahead?" Astoria asked with a smile before she left.

Scorpius smiled, "I'll pick you up." It had been a long-standing tradition between mother and son that they would go as each other's date to the ball ever since Scorpius was old enough to attend.

She nodded before kissing his forehead. When he was finally alone, he began thinking. His mind was occupied with the words that Henry had said to him the day before. Why was it that someone he barely knew was able to hit something in him so hard. He had been burned before and he often regretted it in the end. To him, it didn't seem better to have loved and gotten hurt then never loving at all. But Henry made it seem as if it was otherwise. Scorpius finally decided he would go down tomorrow and have a talk with the old man again.

The next day, Scorpius was officially discharged from the hospital and was told that he would be okay to come back to work on Monday. He had intended to head straight home, he hadn't been there in almost a week and was eager to sleep on his own bed for the first time since the accident. But something in him pulled him towards the lab. There was probably very little chance she would be there but he went regardless.

Of course, when he looked through the door, she wasn't there. It was only April and Paul; Scorpius decided it was better if he didn't enter. He did have until Monday before he was obligated to see April again and he wouldn't waste the opportunity.

And then almost as if his body was on a schedule now, he found himself walking to the cafeteria. One quick scan and he realized Rose wasn't there either. Scorpius chuckled to himself almost pathetically; _of course she wouldn't be there._

_What on earth was he doing anyway, looking for her that is._

Scorpius shook his head at the nonsense. Why should he care if she looked sad; since when did he ever care? He didn't, he was only there until the job was completed. However, just when he had cemented his resolve of leaving for home, he remembered his intentions of visiting Henry. Scorpius once again took a stop by the old man's room.

"Mr. Samuels," Scorpius called out when he stepped into the room but instead, was met by someone else.

"He's gone," Rose said simply as she sat on the edge of the empty bed.

Scorpius wasn't daft, he knew what she meant when she said he was gone but he asked nonetheless, "Gone?"

"Died," she answered limply.

Scorpius creased his brow before nodding. When neither of them said anything else, Scorpius made for the door but before he could leave, "Could you sit here with me for a while?" she asked.

After a moment of not contemplation but shock at the request, Scorpius dropped his bag onto the floor before approaching the bed. She scooted over slightly to make room for him. He slowly descended, feeling the bed fall slightly under his added weight. Scorpius didn't know what to say or do; to say he felt out of place was putting it lightly. And on top of this, his previous resolve of going home was shattered.

The two of them sat there for what must have been twenty minutes before they were interrupted. The staff needed to clear the room and make it free for the next patient. Rose promptly stood up and stepped away from him, fixing her hair and wiping her eyes. Scorpius followed her soon after. When they were both out in the hall, Rose stopped and turned to face him.

And to his surprise, she hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered before pulling away and continued down the hall; leaving him to ponder alone at what had just transpired between the two of them.

* * *

A/N: I almost deleted this chapter altogether until I realized it's been almost 2 weeks and if I started over, you guys would most likely have to wait another week. I'm just not too happy about it, too sappy and cliché for my tastes. (I know the irony of it that I wrote it myself) Next chapter will be the ball so expect some fun! As always, please leave your reviews, I read all of them and they really brighten up my day.


	20. Being Difficult

**Chapter 20- Being Difficult**

**Rose's POV**

Despite Rose's refusal, Healer Powell insisted Rose take the day off. Henry had just died and she had the ball that night anyway. She wouldn't be able to concentrate on work. Rose had stayed in bed the whole morning; even long after Grant had gotten up. Of course, she hadn't actually slept; her body was just in too much pain to get up.

"When are you getting up babe?" Grant asked as he poked his wet and messy haired head from behind the bathroom door. He had just stepped out of the shower and had a toothbrush in his mouth as he asked Rose.

Rose just shrugged as she had her back to him, "I'm tired."

Grant chuckled, "You've been in bed all morning." Rose hadn't actually gotten to tell Grant about Henry. Why she didn't tell him; she didn't know. Her tears were all used up and by the time she got home yesterday, he only thought she had a bad day.

Rose shrugged again, this time staying silent. Grant turned back to the bathroom and finished getting ready.

"It's your day off," Grant said, letting it slide before bending down to kissing her head. "I'm going to get a game of quidditch in with your cousins. I'll see you at the Burrow later, call me if you need me."

Rose nodded absentmindedly. She listened for the floo to tell her that Grant had finally left. And for some reason, she was relieved. Rose turned to lie on her back, staring emptily at the ceiling. She did this until her eyes started to hurt. Slowly, she turned her head and saw that it was already 3:00 in the afternoon. Deciding that she had better make herself presentable, she sat up; although every muscle in her body was telling her to lie back down.

Once she had reached the mirror, she took one look at her haggard self and walked out of her bathroom and into the kitchen, opened the third cabinet to the right and pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey.

* * *

"Rose!" Lily screamed as she floo into Rose's flat. Rose had her head on the table with two empty bottles of fire whiskey on the table; a third one on its way to being finished clutched in her hand.

Rose grumbled something inaudible before placing the bottle to her mouth again but Lily had jumped to her and grabbed the bottle from out of her hands. Rose let out a string of profanities and demanded Lily give her bottle back.

"Gimme da bollo Lil," Rose spat.

"No Rose. You need to get up. The ball is in two hours and you were suppose to be at the Burrow half an hour ago!" Lily retorted.

Rose leaned forward in a poor attempt to reach for the bottle before she heard someone else step out of the floo.

"Fuck! She's wasted," Dominique said with a chuckled.

Lily gave Dominique a stern look but for the second she was distracted, Rose had surprised her by grabbing the bottle.

Lily had tried to take it back but Rose surprised even herself as she avoided Lily's grabbing hands. She could hear Dominique laughing from her couch.

"A little help Dom!" Lily screamed as she chased Rose around the room.

"But it's so funny," Dominique said. Lily shot another look at her cousin. Dominique rolled her eyes before agreeing reluctantly.

Again distracted, Rose had tackled Lily to the ground. "Get off of me Rose!" Lily screeched, "DOM!"

And the next thing you know, Lily was wailing her limbs with Rose on top of her and Dominique had come over attempting to help Lily.

The three women paused momentarily when the floo went off again. This time Dominique's boyfriend Eli joined them. He stood dumbfounded for a moment before he smirked, "Hot!"

Dominique immediately stood up and smacked him in the back of the head before pulling him down for a kiss.

"Hey, I'm still down here!" Lily called. With both Dominique and Eli's help, they pulled a drunk Rose up from Lily. Rose had unfortunately managed to down the rest of the bottle.

"What the hell is going on? I thought you guys said you would be back in a second," Eli chortled.

"This one is being difficult," Lily pointed to Rose.

"And piss drunk," Dominique laughed.

Lily sighed, "I'm not even going to ask Rose, but we have to get ready. So you can either drink this pepper up potion willingly or I'm going to have to force it down your throat."

Ten minutes later, Rose learned that she should take Lily Potter's threats more seriously next time. She was small in size but definitely not to be messed with. It took Rose another twenty minutes before she was completely sober enough to travel by floo. The four of them arrived at the Burrow where everyone was getting ready. Victoire and Lily had immediately dragged Rose off to get her ready.

While her cousins were doing her make up and hair, Grant entered the room. "Rose, are you okay? Dom told me what happened at the flat," he said.

Lily rolled her eyes at the certain calmness in his voice while Rose waved him off. "Fine," she replied.

Grant nodded before turning to leave Victoire and Lily to finish their work. Lily arched her brow at Rose as if to say, "Really?"

"Okay, I wasn't there so spill. What happened?" Victoire suddenly asked excitedly.

"Nothing," Rose said while Lily said, "She was off her head, drank three bottles of firewhiskey."

"What?" Victoire exclaimed and Rose felt herself blush. She surprised even herself at how much she had drunk but the fact of the matter was that it numbed the pain and it felt good.

"You guys know how much I hate these big events. Just a bunch of pompous rich brown nosers looking for a way to make themselves look even more rich," Rose said.

"Hey!" Victoire exclaimed.

"Sorry, I don't mean Teddy," Rose apologized. Teddy was one of the top people who worked in the Ministry for the law department.

After an hour, everyone had gathered in the living room, all dressed. Soon they all filed out of the crammed house and apparated to London where the ball was being held.

Rose and Grant were two of the last to go. "Ready?" Grant smiled as he held her arm. Although Rose knew how to apparate, she was still a little unsure of herself after the late afternoon binge she had so she made an excuse to side apparate with Grant. Rose gave a small smile and nodded.

* * *

The ball was just as Rose expected. She walked arm in arm with Grant into the grand entrance where the doorman opened the doors and they all checked their coats in the coat check, currently handled by a small man who stood on a stool. Rose watched interestedly as the little man wrestled with the large coats before he remembered he had a wand. She was the same; sometimes she would just completely forget about being a witch. Grant chuckled before leading Rose into the ballroom.

Luckily, her parents and Uncle Harry had entered first so all the attention would be diverted. Although Victoire and Lily had done a fantastic job of doing her make up and hair, she still felt as if she'd just been hit by a truck. She was still thinking about Henry; he'd been almost like a third grandfather to her.

Grant led the way and Rose followed willingly. She mindlessly stood there with a fake smile as Grant droned on about politics and quidditch. The old balding men opposite them with their giant bellies laughed heartily at Grant's charming jokes. Rose wished for anything that she was in her pajamas, curled up in her bed. When Grant made a move to fetch them drinks, Rose eagerly volunteered instead. She needed a break from the boring business talks.

As she walked across the large room, she spotted several of her family members. There was her parents- her mother talking animatedly with some important person while her father watched her lovingly; Uncle Harry talking to the Minister of Magic with Aunt Ginny in his arms. Her cousins were all spread out with their significant others. Just as she reached the bar, a man's voice echoed off the walls of the large room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he cleared and little by little the room quieted down.

"Thank you," he said, "It is my pleasure to present to you, the Minister of Magic." The audience clapped as the Minister stood on the stage. Rose took this time to grab the drinks and make it back to Grant.

"I would like to thank you all for attending the annual ministry remembrance ball…" the Minister started but Rose drifted off; she'd heard this speech a hundred times already. Instead, her attention was now placed on the man that was standing across the other side of the room with his date in his arm, an older woman who he partly resembled. Scorpius Malfoy.

* * *

**Scorpius' POV**

Scorpius was dressed impeccably and was currently arm in arm with his mother. He had picked her up like he promised and they were now standing in the middle of the packed room, waiting for the Minister of Magic to finish his speech so the ball could officially begin. He of course wasn't listening to a word the Minister was saying; he'd heard it a hundred times before. Instead, he was nervously fumbling with his free hand in his pocket that held the invitation card. This wasn't his official invitation, he'd handed that in upon entering. This was the one that he received from his employer.

Scorpius chanced a glance around the room, he would have to find her sometime during the night to make his move and inch a little closer to completing his mission. And without much difficulty, he spotted her usually wild fiery hair tied up in an elegant bun, wearing an emerald dress that draped to the floor. Scorpius felt his lips curl up a bit before he noticed the unmistakable figure that was standing next to her, her fiancé.

"Is something wrong sweetheart?" Astoria whispered.

"No, why do you ask, mother?" Scorpius asked.

Astoria chuckled, "Well for one, you're gripping my arm very tightly…"

Scorpius hadn't noticed and quickly loosened his grip again, "Sorry."

"And for another, you look a bit distracted," Astoria finished.

"It's not the first time I've heard this speech," Scorpius said smoothly, devoid of emotion. He couldn't let his mother see who he'd been looking at.

"It'll be over soon," Astoria said before turning her attention back to the Minister.

When he was sure his mother wasn't paying attention to him anymore, he turned in Rose's direction again. However, he was surprised when instead of having a view of her profile, he was staring straight into her eyes. Her blue eyes in some state of shock and annoyance; Scorpius found himself smirking at her. Rose abruptly turned away from him.

* * *

After Scorpius had his dance with his mother, it was tradition between them that they would be each other's first dance, he wondered off to get a drink while his mother busied herself with her friends. As he reached the bar however, he remembered that he wasn't just here for the stupid ball this time; he was on the job. Reluctantly, he waved the bartender's offer of a firewhiskey off and settled for some butterbeer. He continued to watch Rose as she danced with Grant before he felt someone sit next to him.

"Tell me you're not planning on doing something stupid tonight," Albus said as he signaled the bartender for a firewhiskey.

Scorpius stared jealously at his friend's drink before turning back to his own. "Can't promise I won't," he answered nonchalantly. He could see Albus' fist clench from beside him.

"Where's Liz?" Scorpius asked, thinking it better to change the subject.

"Back at the table," Albus said as he pointed to where Liz was sitting with the rest of the family.

"Does Rose know you're here?" Albus asked.

Scorpius squirmed, his distraction hadn't worked. "She knows," he simply said, not wanting to elaborate that they were looking at each other during the Minister's speech.

The two staying silent for a long time, drinking each other's respective drinks before Albus finally decided it was time he rejoin his date. "Don't make it hard on yourself Scorp, everyone's here tonight," Albus said almost cryptically as he left.

When Albus had finally left, Scorpius trained his eye on where Rose had previously been dancing only to find that she was gone. Grant was now dancing with her mother, Hermione. He continued searching the room but couldn't find Rose. Deciding that she probably went to the loo, he turned back to the bar. Scorpius took a look at his watch, not an hour had passed and he guessed it would be another two hours before he was permitted to leave.

_To hell with it. _Scorpius waved a hand at the bartender and ordered a firewhiskey.

An hour and two firewhiskeys later, Scorpius felt more relaxed. He'd dance with his mother once more along with several ladies who asked. A few times, he'd look somewhere and saw a flash of red thinking it was Rose but it was always someone else.

Scorpius hadn't seen Rose since the beginning of the ball but as he made his way to the men's room, he bumped into her. She seemed a bit uncoordinated as she exited the ladies' room; flailing her dress around and not noticing that it was him she had bumped into.

"Watch it Weasley," he said almost amusingly.

She immediately stopped when she heard his voice and turned to face him. "What do you want Malfoy?" Rose asked.

"You're the one who bumped into me," he replied.

"My apologies your royal highness," Rose spat sardonically before she walked again.

Scorpius was mildly surprised; normally Rose would have stopped to argue that it was _he _who bumped into her. They would have continued to banter for at least five more minutes before she resorted to calling him an arrogant git. She had seemed fine from what he saw at the beginning of the night but then again, it was probably all just for show. And as he realized she mustn't have gotten over Henry's death yet, he frowned.

On his way out of the loo, he'd bumped into another person, the man who he was conspiring against- Grant.

"Oh my apologies," Grant said as he grabbed Scorpius to steady himself.

When he saw who Scorpius was, a grin fell onto his face. "Hey, I know you. You're Albus' mate," Grant said. "I'm horrible with names but good with faces. What did you say was your name again?" Grant chuckled.

"I didn't," Scorpius muttered as he walked passed Grant, leaving the latter to ponder Scorpius' odd and hostile behavior.

* * *

"Malfoy!" Scorpius heard someone call. He whipped around and found James Potter waving at him.

Scorpius walked over to the eldest Potter sibling who was currently sitting at an empty table. He looked slouched over, sweating glistening on his forehead. "Been dancing all night, Potter?" Scorpius drawled.

"You bet," James said as he wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

"I see you've been busy with the ladies yourself," James said as he raised his brow.

Scorpius smirked. Just then, Lily Potter had joined them. "Scorpius?" she asked exasperatedly, Scorpius could see that she'd just finished dancing as well.

"Lily," Scorpius bowed slightly.

"Albus didn't say you would be here," Lily scrunched her face as she stole James' glass of water.

Scorpius shrugged, he was about to speak again but was interrupted once more. He'd heard some hiccups from behind him and turned to find that Rose was standing directly behind him with her best friend Kyle. "Following me Malfoy?" Rose slurred.

At this James jumped up, "Wait, you two saw each other before this and didn't kill each other yet?" he asked in an almost childishly gleeful tone.

Lily rolled her eyes at her brother before helping Rose and Kyle into a seat, "Rose is too busy on a drinking rampage if you hadn't noticed," Lily said to her brother.

Rose kicked Lily in the shin, "Am not!" before giggling unceremoniously.

Scorpius chuckled but found a rather stern looking Kyle staring at him suspiciously. He had known Kyle at Hogwarts where she was Rose's best friend. They had rarely exchanged words since Scorpius wasn't exactly on speaking terms with Rose but from a few confrontations, he knew Kyle was very opinionated. So it was a surprise to him that she hadn't spoken a word yet.

"What is wrong with you?" Lily asked Rose, snapping Scorpius out of his thoughts.

"I told you, nothing," Rose waved off gloomily.

Scorpius stared at Rose as she said this; it seemed odd that Rose would keep Henry's death from her family. Rose seemed to have noticed his stare and gave him a look that told him he wasn't allowed to say anything about Henry.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to join some real company," Scorpius announced airily before leaving the table.

* * *

A/N: I know, a weird place to cut off but the chapter was getting too long with my ramblings. I know not much interaction with Scorp/Rose in this chapter like you guys were probably expecting- but I felt like I needed to include some funny family bits and Rose's reaction to Henry's death. Which is why I'm updating a bit earlier, didn't want you guys to wait so long thinking it was going to be a big Scorp/Rose chapter. (And for the awesomely huge amount of reviews I got for my last chapter) Next chapter will be what you call- "the interesting bits and interaction." Stay tuned and as always R&R!


	21. Dancing Under the Moonlight

A/N: HOLY over 300 reviews, Batman! Words cannot say how awestruck I am. I can only offer you this early update, Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 21- Dancing Under the Moonlight**

Scorpius walked away from the Potter/Weasley table and made his way over to the bar again. Not much happened in the next hour; and by that, meant Scorpius refusing to look away from Rose as he mindlessly poured firewhiskey down his throat. He watched as she continuously shook off her family's attempt to find out what was wrong. They knew of course that something was different about Rose, but not why. A few times, Scorpius had caught Rose looking his way. Each time she had this odd look on her face as if she was committing a sin by looking at him. Scorpius had stayed in his spot for this reason, so she'd know where to look.

As the hour wore itself away, Scorpius noticed her family's efforts wavering at trying to find what was wrong with Rose. They had left Rose to her own devices, which made it easy for Rose to slip out of her seat unnoticed. Scorpius' eyes traveled across the room and followed Rose's figure, her back disappearing behind a tapestry that led to a balcony.

Scorpius stood up, his hand still in his pocket that held the crumbled invitation. The next moment, Scorpius was tracing Rose's steps and walked behind the same tapestry, disappearing into the night.

When he stepped onto the balcony, he immediately heard her chuckle. His heart beat slightly, _had she been expecting him to follow her?_

"I told you I was fine," she started to turn before the realization in her eyes told him that she hadn't expected him. Her surprise soon turned into a frown and Scorpius felt his stomach lurch.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked accusingly, her slightly slurred speech told him that she was drunk.

Scorpius didn't answer. He simply stared at her, her face barely visibly as she had her back to the moonlight but beautiful all the same.

He scrunched his face at the thought. Had he just called her beautiful? Was it just the alcohol talking; he'd been staring at her all night. Her face must have been the only one imprinted in his head at this point. But despite his regards toward Rose, he couldn't deny it; wouldn't deny that she looked absolutely stunning tonight. If she wasn't who she was, he'd probably already asked her to dance.

His moment of thought had allowed Rose to close the distance between them without him realizing. Slowly, she reached him, standing a foot apart from each other. "How come you didn't say anything at the table?" she asked, almost in a whisper.

Scorpius looked down at her face but still no words. He watched as she furrowed her brow, looking despondent at his lack of response- no doubt thinking that he'd been ignoring her.

"Say something Malfoy!" she demanded.

And at the same time, the only thing Scorpius had managed to say was, "Dance with me?"

He could see the surprise in her eyes at his request but he was sure the surprise on his face was more telling. The words had just slipped out but after the initial shock, he realized he didn't want to take them back. He only hoped that she took him seriously.

"What? N..No, I don't want to dance with you Malfoy," she stammered, slightly unsure of herself. Scorpius felt himself flinch but waited; he could see the battle she was fighting.

"There isn't even any music out here," she added.

Scorpius inched closer; his brow arched and a smirk growing on his face that said she was going to lose her will.

"And you're a git!" she shouted with finality. But by then, Scorpius had cornered her; his small steps had distracted her from seeing what he was doing.

"Give me…" Scorpius started as he placed one hand on her waist. He could feel her body tense slightly, both of their gazes on where his hand had laid on her waist.

"Get your hands off of me," Rose squealed as she struggled against him.

"A better reason…" he continued, drawing her attention back to his face, her body relaxing slightly but still trying to push him away.

"Not to…_Rose_" he whispered into her ear as his free hand reached down to grab her hand. She stood still for a moment staring into his eyes. Almost as if he had said the magic word, she had stopped trying to push him away. And slowly, he saw her eyes changing. He felt her free hand travel up his arm and onto his shoulder where it settled.

His extremities feeling absolutely electric as he clasped her hand. Scorpius could feel the softness of the back of her hand with his finger tips, the svelte curve of her body where his other hand laid and the knots that were growing tighter and tighter in his stomach.

For the next ten minutes, Scorpius felt like he was somewhere else. They danced in a slow tempo to the barely audible music that was still playing inside. She, needing more support from being slightly drunk, leaned on him. Instinctively, he felt his grip tighten around her waist, bringing the two of them closer together.

"Why?" Rose asked suddenly, snapping them out of their peaceful state. He could hear that she was on her way to passing out.

"Why what?" he chuckled lightly.

"Why can't you leave me alone?" she asked.

_Because it's my job. Because I can't. Because I don't want to._

"Do you always have to know everything Rose?" he ended up asking, noticing that he was using her first name for the second time tonight.

Rose snorted, "Never a straight answer from you."

Scorpius pulled away from her, "What do you want to know?"

"Do you still hate me?" she asked seriously.

He was slightly taken aback at the question; Scorpius had half expected her to ask her previous question again and half to ask something witty like why he always acted like an _arrogant toerag._

After a long minute, "No, I don't think I do," he answered honestly.

Rose furrowed her brow as if trying to discern the truth before finally settling. "You've changed," she stated simply.

They stared at each other for what seemed like forever before Scorpius felt his restraint leaving him. Never had he wanted to kiss Rose Weasley so badly. Conscience abandoned, he began lowering his head. He could feel the heat radiating from her, burning his skin at every inch of contact. He felt a wave of glee when she hadn't back away but when their noses were an inch apart, someone had interrupted.

"Rose?" the voice rang.

* * *

**Rose's POV**

"Rose?" someone had called out from behind Scorpius.

"Rose," the voice rang again but this time, it was much louder. She suspected it must have been Scorpius the second time but by then, she was out.

Rose heard voices as she began to stir. They were slightly muffled but gradually became louder and clearer until she picked up her father's voice.

"Rosie, are you awake?" her father asked.

She slowly opened her eyes, and counted six faces looking down at her- her parents, Grant, Kyle, Albus and Lily. She could see that they weren't at the ball anymore but at the Burrow.

"What happened?" Rose asked and before any of the six beside her could answer, "Passed out drunk," a voice she recognized to be James' rang from across the room. She could hear the laughter in his voice as he said it, which led Lily to turn away, no doubt throwing James a reprimanding look.

"Sweetheart, what happened?" her mother asked in a sensible voice.

"I…I don't remember," Rose replied, her head pounding. She honestly just wanted to go back to asleep.

"No, I meant why you were drinking so much," her mother asked again. At this, Lily had looked guiltily at Rose. But that's when she realized Albus' expression was slightly different from the rest. The rest were either worried or had an amused face but not Albus. Albus looked…angry.

"Is there something you want to tell us, babe?" Grant asked as he held her hand.

And all the feelings had come rushing back in; Henry was dead. Rose felt the tears in her eyes well up and felt her mother rush to her side and hold her. "Henry died yesterday," Rose sobbed.

"Oh sweetheart," her mother whispered, "Why didn't you tell somebody?"

"I…I…" Rose hiccupped. _I did tell somebody…or at least, he found out. _Rose thought of Scorpius but didn't say; instead, she continued crying.

She didn't know when she had passed out again but saw that this time when she woke up, there weren't six heads staring down at her, there was only one.

"How're you feeling Rose?" Kyle asked.

Rose sat herself up. "Fine," Rose answered and looked around. "Where's Grant?"

"Downstairs. Left just five minutes ago when I told him I wanted to talk to you," she said, her green eyes boring down on Rose.

Rose could tell Kyle wasn't there for one of their little gossip sessions. She nodded at Kyle solemnly, beckoning her to continue.

"Why were you with Malfoy yesterday?" Kyle asked, not missing a beat.

Rose had barely remembered what happened yesterday but one mention of Scorpius' name and Rose felt something twisting in her stomach.

"I…" Rose started but Kyle promptly cut her off.

"Or better yet, why did it look like he was about to kiss you?" she asked, her gaze unwavering.

"Kyle," Rose said exasperatedly. She didn't know how she was going to explain to her friend what had happened or why she let it go so far- even if she was drunk, she was well aware of Scorpius' advances toward her last night. And a sick part of her enjoyed it. Alas, it was a question even she couldn't answer herself.

"No," she stopped Rose, "because it looked like you were going to let him if I hadn't found you," she said.

"I was drunk," Rose reasoned, but she knew it would be no use. Kyle was smarter than that.

"Don't give me any of that bullshit Rose!" Kyle fired back. Rose felt herself flinch.

"What? Was it one of Malfoy's stupid smirks or some charming compliment that he fed you? Or was this not the first time you kissed him? Did you lie before in saying that you guys hadn't kissed? I thought you hated the guy!" she rammed on.

Rose couldn't take it anymore. Whether if it was because of Kyle's distrust in her or the leftover headache from last night, she didn't know.

"I DON'T KNOW KYLE! I don't fucking know myself why Malfoy tried to kiss me or if I wouldn't have stopped him if you hadn't come!" Rose shouted.

"Well you better figure it out Rose. You're getting married in a week! Grow up," Kyle said and left without saying another word.

And now, Rose had two people who were angry with her, Kyle and Albus for whatever reason. But not a minute passed after Kyle had slammed the door did Grant show up. "What happened? I saw Kyle fuming down the stairs. Did you two have a fight?" Grant asked.

"Kyle is just being Kyle," Rose spat.

Grant chuckled, "Okay, maybe I don't need to know the details but maybe you could sort it out within the week."

Rose threw a confused look at Grant. "Hun, you can't have an angry Maid of Honor at our wedding," Grant explained.

"Oh, right," Rose said in acknowledgment.

Grant sat beside her and placed his arm around her shoulder, "It'll be okay."

"Are you sure about that?" Rose whispered, mostly to herself.

"What's that?" Grant asked.

Rose pulled away, "What? Nothing."

Grant kissed her forehead and stood up. "Come on, let's get you some breakfast."

"Shoot, I have to get to work!" Rose remembered.

"Not before you eat. You're going to need to fill up your stomach with something after you emptied it all out yesterday night," Grant said.

Rose smiled apologetically at Grant, "Sorry, I don't remember a thing."

"It's fine, nothing I can't handle," he said, puffing his chest out slightly.

Rose chuckled, and felt herself being pulled up by Grant. She laid her head on his shoulder as they walked out the room. _How could she be so stupid to ruin something so good? _Kyle was right. Whatever she had with Scorpius, she had to figure it out before someone got hurt.

* * *

A/N: I can honestly say that I loved this chapter, does that make me sound conceited? Or maybe I should say, I loved writing this chapter. I'm just really happy about it, that's all. But it's your thoughts that count, let me know what you guys thought of this chapter. Liked the ScoRose bit? Who thought it was someone other than Kyle who had interrupted? R&R!


	22. Avoidance

**Chapter 22- Avoidance**

After Kyle had grabbed Rose from him and threw a daggering stare at him, he decided to stay out on the balcony for a little while longer. He didn't want everyone to notice how he was out there with Rose and more importantly, why. He was sure Kyle was going to confront Rose but knew the girl didn't go blabbering to everyone about everything. Which is something he couldn't say held true for the Weasley/Potter clan save for Albus.

Five minutes passed before he thought it was safe to wander out from the balcony without having people connect the pieces. He could see the entire Weasley clan gathered around Rose, faces with worry. Rose's parents had dismissed most of them but Albus and Lily stayed along with Grant and Kyle. Lily was bent over helping the rest of them but Albus had looked up, almost as if expecting Scorpius to be standing there. His cat like eyes glaring at Scorpius, never angrier than Scorpius had seen before.

Scorpius turned away, and began looking for his mother instead. He plowed through the crowd before he found her in a corner talking to someone. And that was when he realized she was with someone that looked awfully similar to himself, his father. Scorpius felt his fist clench before taking large strides to reach his mother. His fiasco with Rose and Albus quickly leaving him.

"What are you doing here?" Scorpius asked scathingly, the words gritting between his teeth.

His mother moved closer to him and put a hand on his chest, most likely to keep him from hexing his father. But Scorpius wasn't stupid enough to make a scene here. His family matters weren't something he was keen on sharing with the rest of the world, even if he did want to punch Draco Malfoy's nose off his face each time he saw the man.

"We're leaving, mother," Scorpius stated.

"Scorpius," Draco Malfoy started.

"Don't," Scorpius pointed a finger at his father, voice raised slightly.

"Scorpius please, maybe it's time you work things out," Astoria suggested.

"If you're not coming, I'm leaving," Scorpius said to his mother.

"Don't walk away son," Draco said.

At this, Scorpius spun around, "Don't you dare lecture me about walking away. I'm warning you old man, leave my mother and I alone," he spat.

"Scorpius," his mother huffed as she struggled to catch up with his long strides.

Once they were out of earshot and at the coat check, Scorpius turned around to face his mother. He hadn't noticed before but she looked tired and drained. His anger grew even more; his father's appearance must have burdened her.

"Are you okay mother?" Scorpius asked.

Astoria waved his concern off, "Fine. Just a little winded. Sometimes you forget your mother doesn't have as long of legs as you," she said, giving a sly smile.

Scorpius smirked, "Excuses ma'am. You're legs look a mile long."

Astoria chuckled, "Oh I hope you don't use that line with the girls you take out."

"What line?" Scorpius feigned as he helped his mother with her coat.

"You know, you really should speak with your father while it's convenient. Don't make it a last resort," she said.

Scorpius scrunched his face in disgust, "Last resort? What, like I would ever need anything bad enough to want to talk to him? I don't think so."

He watched as his mother's face fall. "Did you forget, he left us," Scorpius said.

"Yes, well why don't we go home. I'm a little tired from all the dancing and mingling," Astoria said, changing the subject.

Scorpius smiled as he walked toward the door. They had to go outside before they were allowed to apparate.

"Scorpius, do you mind if we take the floo?" Astoria asked.

Scorpius turned back to face his mother, confused but abided to her request. He wasn't exactly in a hurry to be anywhere and taking the floo might be better especially after the amount of alcohol he had tonight.

When he had finally returned to his own flat after dropping his mother off, Scorpius laid on his bed thinking back to his time with Rose tonight. In the three hours he was there, they'd only interacted for twenty minutes of it. But he couldn't recall a time during the ball better spent then those twenty minutes.

The conflicting feelings that settled upon him were disturbing. He couldn't grasp the concept of how he'd no longer loathed Rose. There was a time where he absolutely detested her presence, how it annoyed Albus to have his two best friends hate each other. But he was well past that. In fact, he enjoyed her presence. At times, he couldn't wait to see her during rounds and banter with her, he realized; anything to keep their interaction going. It was a good thing, one would say, that two people were able to look past their past differences and come together in peace. But not for Scorpius, not when he had a job to do. Something he was beginning doubt if he would be able to complete. He'd never failed before but this time, he felt some sort of remorse. She was going to get hurt one way or another and there was nothing he could do.

* * *

When Heather had showed Scorpius the schedule for the week, he had insisted she switch his with Paul's so that he didn't have any shifts with Rose. He didn't need to see her and cloud his judgment. Her wedding would be in a week and after that, she would be none the wiser, Albus could tell her all about Grant. He would just have to tell his employer he failed. There was nothing he could do, she was just too stupidly in love with Grant, he thought bitterly.

He worked diligently at his work, he didn't know why he cared anymore but it was something to distract him. A day passed and he'd managed to avoid her. The next day however, April nervously approached him.

"Rose was looking for you yesterday," she simply said.

Scorpius scrunched his face and nodded before he turned back to his potion. Of course she would be looking for him when he didn't want her to. But he had expected this and so he carefully planned to avoid certain places at certain times, anything that was part of her routine. He could at least count on Rose to follow her routine if nothing else.

But Rose had surprised him yet again. He was heading to the cafeteria, two hours later than Rose usually would for lunch, when he found himself being cornered by her. "Scorpius," she called.

Scorpius stopped and placed his hands in his pockets, a movement that showed he had heard her and was listening. She stood her place, granting him his distance. "Something you want to say Weasley?" he asked coldly, hoping his tone would deter her from approaching him.

There was a long pause. "If there's nothing you have to say, I'm going to get my lunch now," he said, starting to walk away.

"Just thought you would like to know, Henry's funeral is tomorrow. If you don't feel like being a jerk tomorrow, the service is going to be held here in London," she said with a slightly hurt voice. Without waiting for a response, Scorpius heard her heels stomp away.

Scorpius hung his head, after everything that happened, he'd almost forgotten about Henry. The plan was to cross Rose's path as little as possible in the coming week but he couldn't find it in himself to skip Henry's funeral. He was just going to have to arrive a little later and hang back for the most part; watch from a distance so he wouldn't have to meet Rose.

* * *

**Rose's POV**

Rose had expected to see Scorpius in the lab on Monday; instead, she saw Paul and April chatting in the room alone.

"Where's Scorpius?" Rose asked. April looked surprised that she had called Scorpius by his first name. Rose hadn't even noticed when or why she started to either.

"He switched with me," Paul said.

"Oh," Rose muttered, crestfallen. "Well, if you see him later, tell him I need to speak with him."

April nodded and went back to talking with Paul while the potions stewed before them.

After a talk with Heather, Rose found out that Scorpius had asked to change his schedule, coincidentally missing her each time. She didn't know why he was suddenly deciding to avoid her but she honestly thought Henry would have wanted Scorpius at his funeral. She decided to forgo her usual routine the next day, hoping to catch him off guard.

At 4:00 in the afternoon, she had caught him entering the cafeteria. He didn't turn around when she called him and his tone of voice had definitely changed when he addressed her by her last name. Rose felt a hot flame burning inside of her, whom was he to ignore her after he'd spent the better part of the month annoying her. And then what had happened last night at the ball. The git was seriously confusing her.

Rose informed him of the funeral and left but not without leaving an insult. She was unpleasant for the rest of the day.

* * *

Rose had refused any of her family accompanying her to Henry's funeral. She told them that Henry wanted a small funeral, only his children and a few of the hospital staff were to attend. With a quick spin of her heel, she disapparated and appeared outside the church that was holding the service. There was an air of calm when she arrived and when she entered; she saw that Henry's children along with Healer Powell were already there.

"Rose, thanks for coming," Janet, one of Henry's daughter said when she saw Rose enter the building.

"It's the least I could do, your father was a great man. I'm sorry for your loss," Rose said, her voice shaking. Janet gave her a hug and directed Rose to where Healer Powell was already sitting.

At a quarter to ten, all of the guest had arrived. Rose could count with all of her fingers the number of people who showed up, all up until the last person. Her heart sank when she realized Scorpius hadn't shown up. He had been acting like a jerk but she had expected him to at least show up for Henry's sake, he had been quite fond of Scorpius.

In twenty minutes, the service had wrapped up and they all stood as guests were shown the lounge room to freshen up before they leave. When Rose stood and faced the door, her eyes flickered to the head of blond at the back of the room. Scorpius stood with his arms crossed, silently. His gaze turned to Rose for a second but when he saw that she was looking his way, he turned quickly for the door.

He was now deliberately avoiding her and Rose had had enough. She said a quick goodbye to Henry's family, told Healer Powell she would meet her back on the hospital later and left straight for the door after Scorpius.

But when she left the church, there was no one outside. He had already disapparated.

When Rose returned to the hospital, she was planning on dragging the git by the ear and torture him until he apologized for his behavior. But when she couldn't find him anywhere, she asked Heather if she'd seen him.

"Scorpius took the day off," the secretary said.

"He didn't look sick to me," Rose thundered.

Heather shrugged, "Said he wasn't feeling well and if Powell wanted to dock pay, she was free to do so."

Rose frowned but thanked Heather before she left. And now, more than ever, she wanted to find out what was running through Scorpius Malfoy's head.

* * *

A/N: First off, I would just like to inform you guys of another milestone I reached from my last chapter- I had over 1,000 visitors on the day I posted the new chapter! It is unbelievable, I've been treading the 800-900 mark for the last few chapters but to hit that 1k mark feels amazing.

Second, my story was inducted into a community: **The Super Awesome Reading Library**. I have no idea how this happened or what it means but it sounds awesome! I don't follow communities myself but for anyone does...YAY!

Third, I want to clear things up a bit- the story will not end once the wedding arrives/mission ends. I just don't feel like I can make it believable that everything turns out happy in like 5 days time. But about the chapter, yeah, Scorpius is taking a bit of the coward's way out...but can you blame him? The guy's helplessly in love with her and doesn't even fully realize that he is. But let me know what you think. Cheers!


	23. Leave Me Alone

**Chapter 23- Leave Me Alone**

Scorpius had made it back to his flat after the morning's funeral service, taking a quick stop at St. Mungos to inform Heather of his decision to take the rest of the day off. He hadn't planned on skipping work but it was seeing her at the church; he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. There she had stood next to Healer Powell, her figure elegantly wrapped in a modest black dress that went up to her knee, her fiery red curls slightly more tame than normal but no where as neat as it was at the ball. He couldn't see her face for the most part but knew she had been crying, for every minute or two, she would reach up with a tissue to wipe her eyes. He was sure he had spent the majority of the time observing her instead of paying attention to the service. And Scorpius had been so stuck on watching her back that he hadn't even noticed when everyone made to stand up at the end. Hadn't realized until her dark blue eyes zeroed in on him. He'd suddenly felt like he was naked to her gazing eyes and couldn't stand for her to look at him anymore.

And now he was just lying on the couch of his sitting room, staring into nothingness. Scorpius had poured a cup of scotch for himself and it dangled dangerously from his limp hand. _Why had her gaze affected him so much? _This was the thought that ran through his mind for the last hour. Lately, everytime she'd look at him, his breath hitched and his pulse fastened its pace. And that time when they had been so close to locking lips, it felt as if someone had drugged him with euphoria elixir. Scorpius kept imagining her blue eyes staring into him, the sight was imprinted in his mind; so much so that it felt like he was seeing the real thing.

However, these pair of eyes did not have the kindness or vulnerability he had seen earlier today. These eyes were one of anguish and annoyance, something he was prone to seeing during their earlier days at St. Mungos, when he had just started. Scorpius frowned, he did not like seeing these eyes but no matter how hard he tried to wipe them from his mind, they stood staring at him.

"You don't look sick to me Malfoy," a voice rang and Scorpius suddenly sat up, unaware of his unexpected visitor.

Scorpius blinked a few times to let the realization hit him and when he suddenly realized he was staring into her eyes all along, he pushed himself back as if to give him some distance from him. "What are you doing here Weasley?" he asked relatively coolly.

Rose rolled her eyes, "To drag you arse back to work. Just because you've had a bad day doesn't mean you get a free pass."

"I don't recall you setting the rules at the hospital," Scorpius replied.

"Well Powell does," Rose countered.

Scorpius raised his brow. "And you're telling me Powell sent you to my flat to drag my arse back to work?" he asked challengingly.

Rose puffed, and Scorpius could see a hue of red creeping up her neck as he drawled out his last sentence. "I didn't think so," Scorpius snorted when she stayed silent and went back to looking at this ceiling.

For the next minute, Scorpius daren't peek at what Rose might have been up to. He silently hoped she would just see herself out for he was not sure what he would do if she stayed any longer. Of course if he did pursue her, he'd be one step closer to fulfilling his mission. But he had decided two days ago that he would no longer pursue it. Scorpius had managed to stick to his plan of abandoning it and avoided her for the last two days but she wasn't making things easier for him. Everytime she was in his line of vision, everytime she spoke, everytime they exchanged touches; she was knocking off a notch of Scorpius' resistance.

Scorpius finally looked up after the minute and to his relief, Rose was no longer at the spot he'd last seen her. He stood up for a brief second before Rose rounded on him from his left, catching him off guard.

"What the hell is your problem, Malfoy!" she screamed.

"Well right now, it's you screaming in my ear!" Scorpius replied angrily.

"Oh is that right, well how about you stop acting like a jerk for one minute!" Rose retorted.

"So tell me, what is it that you expect me to do?" he asked.

"Well for one, stop ignoring me!" Rose stomped and Scorpius was quickly reminded of a twelve-year-old Rose at Hogwarts when Albus had ditched her that one time to play quidditch with him.

Scorpius snorted and looked the other way, "You think too highly of yourself Weasley."

He felt a firm hand on his arm before he spun around and faced her once more. Her face was fierce and her eyes burning as she spoke, "Don't pull that horseshit with me Malfoy."

"Oh?" Scorpius said with a raised brow. "So tell me why I would avoid you then, besides the obvious of course because we both know we can't stand each other."

And as he said this, he suddenly felt her hand relaxing on his arm before it fell limply to her side. Scorpius scrunched his face in confusion and for a few seconds, he thought she might have been stumped. He was about to speak when she suddenly raised her face upward. To his immense surprise, her eyes were on the brim of tears and her face was blotchy. Scorpius fumbled nervously with his hair, which is extremely uncharacteristic of him. He was no stranger to crying girls, as it was quite inevitable when he had to break their hearts but for some reason, he couldn't get this one over his head. He stood frozen waiting for her to make the next move.

Which was probably not the best thing to do because the next thing he knew, he was being attacked by her small fists. "You're such a good for nothing toerag. I don't know why I even bother! You arse!" she screeched.

"Merlin's beard Weasley, watch where you're hitting," Scorpius yelled as he tried to shield himself from her small but strong punches. She kept punching him until he came to his senses and reached out and grabbed her wrists to restrain her. He easily overpowered her but that didn't deter her.

"Let go of me Malfoy," she demanded venomously.

"I rather not have a concussion so if it's all the same, no, I don't think I'll let go," Scorpius replied.

"Well, apparently you can't stand me so wouldn't it be more logical if you let go?" she huffed. And then it suddenly hits him. Why Rose suddenly became so sad and angry. At the ball, when she asked him if he still hated her; he had admitted that he didn't. And even though he had said it in a joking manner about not being able to stand her, it had riled her up enough. He promptly dropped her wrists and Rose seemed to notice this.

"I didn't mean it Rose," he whispered, her name slipping from his mouth for the first time since the ball.

At this, Rose started shaking her head, "No, you don't get to do that Malfoy!"

Scorpius looked up at her again, "Do what?"

"You don't get to ignore the ball. You don't get to avoid me. You don't get to be a jerk. And you certainly don't get to feel bad about it! What do you think I am? A masochist?" she screamed.

Scorpius stood silently as she continued her rant. "You don't think it's hard enough for me as is? To think that I've got my whole future planned out already and here you come striding along, fucking it all up. You're just like you were in Hogwarts, a thorn in my arse!"

"Rose," Scorpius started and reached for her but she pulled back violently.

"Don't you dare," she warned.

"Tell me the truth, why are you doing this? Was this all a game to you? Some stupid dare your friends cooked up to _seduce _your worst enemy? Or perhaps to make my life a living hell as some sort of sick revenge?" she asked suspiciously.

Scorpius was silent but his reaction must have given something away. "Yeah, that's right. Don't think I've forgotten your little crash at my engagement party," Rose said accusingly.

_"Why exactly is it that you're here Malfoy?"_

_Scorpius gave a low chuckle, "To seduce you of course."_

_"Excuse me?" Rose asked exasperatedly._

_"You heard me," he said with a smirk._

"Well congrat-u-fucking-lations! Go collect your money," Rose spat. And with that, she spun around and promptly flooed away.

* * *

Scorpius didn't see Rose for the next two days. He hadn't even tried to avoid her this time but they never managed to cross paths. He thought this might have been the end of it all. The wedding was going to be in two days and he would just put everything behind him. But oh was he wrong.

The next day, he found Albus standing in his office when he entered. His friend didn't look too friendly and was extremely tired. And Scorpius knew what was coming. "Al…" he started.

Albus immediately grabbed his collar and threw him against the wall. "You little shit, what did you say to her? And don't even try and deny anything. I saw you two at the ball. What the fuck do you think you're doing Malfoy?"

Scorpius blinked, the weight of Albus calling him by his surname like it was some dirty disease was immense. His friend had never called him by his surname nastily like some of his family member did. And at this, Scorpius knew he wanted to just get everything over with. "What are you going to do Potter? Hit Me?" Scorpius said, raising his brow.

Apparently Scorpius' cool demeanor surprised Albus for he temporarily let go of Scorpius. And to his surprise, Albus began walking away. "Where do you think you're going?" Scorpius asked.

"You don't even feel bad about it, don't you?" Albus asked as he reached the door.

_Feel bad? _Bad wasn't even the word to begin to describe what Scorpius had been feeling. Scorpius suddenly felt his anger boiling.

"Why don't you ask Grant that? He's the one that's fucking with her!" he called.

At this, Albus turned around and rammed Scorpius straight into the desk. He had the wind knocked out of him as his back connected with the wood. Both men fell over and were on the floor. Albus had managed to land one punch before Scorpius got the upper hand and punched Albus, knocking his glasses cleanly off. It took two minutes for nearby healers to get the two off each other and it wasn't until Healer Powell came that the fight was finally put to an end.

"Mr. Malfoy, you will get cleaned up and then you will hand in your resignation. I do not condone violence from my employees in this hospital. We have enough injuries coming in as is," she said sternly.

"And Mr. Potter, I'd expect a lot more from an Auror. I have sent word to your superior and he will deal with you after you've been cleaned up as well. I expect nothing less than a suspension for you," she said when she turned to Albus.

* * *

The nurse had finished with both of them and asked them to stay put while she retrieved a healer to discharge them. And for the next minute, the room stayed silent before Scorpius found himself laughing at the situation. It wasn't long before Albus started laughing as well.

"I think Powell could probably give McGonagall a run for her money," Scorpius joked.

"Yeah, glad she's not my boss," Albus added.

"Not mine anymore," Scorpius said.

"Well if it was my fault, I'm not sorry," Albus replied mischievously. They laughed a little more before they finally calmed.

"Listen, I know I don't know what went on between you two but whatever you did, Rose is pretty messed up right now. Half of it is probably because she doesn't understand why she just broke up, as far as she's concerned, a perfectly good engagement. And the other half is probably confused about you," Albus said.

"There's nothing…" Scorpius started but Albus had a look on his face that warned Scorpius to not cross him.

"Now, I'm going to give you the opportunity to explain everything to her first because you're my mate but you should know, she's the one that got hurt in all of this and I'm on her side 100%," Albus finished.

Scorpius snorted, "So in other words, I can either tell her and have her kill me, or not say anything and have you kill me?"

"Yup," Albus said brightly.

"Charming," Scorpius muttered and sighed.

Albus stood up and clapped him in the back. Scorpius winced slightly. "My bad," Albus winked.

"Sure, your bad my arse," Scorpius replied scathingly but nonetheless smiled.

"Think of it as you paying up. I'm probably going to have to take some of Rose's rage when she finds out I knew about this and didn't say anything," Albus sighed.

"Sorry mate, I didn't mean for you to get involved with this," Scorpius offered.

Albus shook his head sadly, "No, it's my fault for letting it get this far."

"I just hope she takes out most of her anger out on you before coming after me," Albus said in a half joking and half terrified tone.

"I'm sure there'll be enough hexes dished out to all three of us once I tell her," Scorpius said.

Albus raised his brow but Scorpius sighed. "Just let me tell her first," Scorpius answered simply and Albus nodded reluctantly.

When the healer and nurse returned, they were finally discharged. As they left the ward, Rose had spotted them.

"Al?" she called and quickly reached them. "What happened? Did you get injured in a mission? Does Uncle Harry know about this?" Rose asked in quick succession.

"It's fine Rose," Al said before pushing her hand away. "Besides, I'm sure he'd heard about it by now," Albus said grumpily.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Rose asked sternly. And Scorpius could see that even though she berated Albus in her usual stern tone, it had lost some of the fierceness Scorpius had become accustomed to hearing.

"Nothing Rose. I'll see you soon, yeah?" Albus asked.

"Okay," she gave in and hugged him.

"Later mate," Albus said, giving him a salute and turned to the exit. He watched as Rose kept her eyes trained on Albus' retreating figure, refusing to look at him.

"Rose," Scorpius started.

"Leave me alone, okay?" she asked, almost pleasingly before leaving him in the hall.

Scorpius watched as her figure disappear into the plethora of people. He suddenly had the urge to run after her, pull her into his embrace and just hug her. To tell her he was wrong and that he'd never meant for her to get hurt. But of course, this was all a lie. He'd known from the start that she'd get hurt in the end and he had actually taken up the job to see her get hurt. Scorpius shook his head; he couldn't deal with it today. So instead, he let her walk away and made his way to Powell's office to hand in his resignation.

* * *

A/N: OOOO I wanted so badly for them to kiss in this chapter but it just didn't work for me! Besides, Scorpius is still acting pretty wimpy- so not until he owns up! Next chapter will be from Rose's POV- it's official, she just broke up her engagement so we'll see how she's doing. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, you have no idea how many times I had to delete sections and rewrite them. So...let me know what you think!


	24. The Break Up

A/N: Before we start I would like to address the question of whether the news of broken engagement was made. It was indeed said by Albus but at that moment with everything else going on, Scorpius hadn't actually process it all. It will hit him though...you will see in next chapter.

And let us begin with Rose's side of the story!

* * *

**Chapter 24- The Break Up**

**Rose's POV**

Rose was furious after leaving Scorpius' flat. She didn't even return to the hospital, she sent an owl to let Powell know she was going to take the day off. As strict as Powell was, she was sure the older healer wouldn't mind especially on the day of Henry's funeral. But Rose was beyond annoyed, she'd never in her life skived off of class nor had she ever taken off work just because she felt like it. And definitely not over some stupid prat who was determined to ruin her life.

It hadn't actually entered her mind before she accused him of it. It just suddenly came to her at the heat of the moment. It had to have been, Rose reasoned now; there was no other reason why he would have done all of it. This whole time, Scorpius was only playing her because of some bet; she was sure of it. That day of her engagement party, it all came flooding back to her, his words. And she had actually believed him when he said he didn't hate her anymore. Because they were so just easy believe and his eyes had looked so sincere. But now she knew it was all just a laugh for him…at least, that's what she deduced from everything. He didn't outright say it but Rose knew Scorpius Malfoy enough by now.

But the problem was, that even if this was all a big joke to him, it wasn't to her. She hadn't wanted to admit to herself but he had made her realize how unready she was to get married to Grant. If someone like Scorpius Malfoy could make her have doubts, she knew the marriage wouldn't last. Kyle was right, she had to figure it out and she did…at least the part about not marrying Grant. The harder part she hadn't figured out was how to break the news to him. This literally made Rose sick to her stomach; that she had to call off the wedding with Grant. And Rose was sure that after she broke it off, he would most definitely break up with her. There was no chance of reconciliation, not from something this big. But the worst part of it was, Rose wasn't sure if she was feeling too remorseful of it. She felt sorry for him of course, Grant who had been nothing but fantastic and who had given her a ring so that they could spend the rest of their lives together. He didn't deserve this and she didn't deserve him.

When he came home that day, he was surprised to say the least that she was already home. Rose sat stoically on the couch and waited for him to approach her.

"Babe, what's wrong?" he asked.

"You should sit down," Rose said as blankly as she could.

"What are you doing home so early?" he continued to ask as he sat down.

Rose sighed, "There's something I have to tell you."

Grant scrunched his face, "What's going on Rose?"

"I…I don't think we should get married," she said in an almost whisper.

For his part, Grant stayed pretty calm when she finally said it. Rose watched for any changes in his face but for a whole minute, he sat without emotion, looking over her. And then almost as if a switch had turned on, he looked right back at her, "Why not?" He didn't ask in a pleading or confused way, just asked as if he was asking why the sky was blue.

"I'm not good for you," Rose said honestly.

At this, Grant immediately got up to her side and kneeled beside her. He slipped his hand to her chin and lifted her head. "You're plenty enough for me," he said with a smile.

Rose shook her head. Grant was being too good to her and this made her feel even worse. "No, you shouldn't be with me," she replied.

"Tell me what happened," Grant said gently.

Rose couldn't face him. And when she didn't answer, he took it upon himself to ask, "Are you getting cold feet?"

"No, it's not that," Rose immediately jumped. Grant waited patiently for her to continue, "I want to marry you but I shouldn't," she said with a hint of insecurity.

"Well if you want to marry me, and I want to marry you. What's the big deal?" he asked, still calmly but Rose could hear him starting to grow impatient.

"I did something," Rose finally said. Grant dropped his hand from her cheek and she immediately felt the air getting cold.

"What did you do Rose?" Grant asked a little more forcefully this time.

His voice surprised her a bit but then again, she shouldn't blame him. She basically implied that she cheated on him. She didn't of course, in any physical way, but emotionally, she knew she hasn't been faithful.

"Who is he?" Grant demanded this time.

"Grant, it's not like that," Rose said pleadingly.

"It's not? Then tell me what I'm suppose to believe. Because it sure as hell sounds like you just admitted to cheating on me!" he yelled.

Rose flinched at his raised voice. And again, this was the second time his tone of voice surprised her. Grant had never been anything but sweet to her. But Rose reminded herself that this was her fault.

"Who is this bloke?" Grant asked again.

"There's no one!" Rose screamed this time, because in reality, there was never anyone. But how the hell was she suppose to explain that she hadn't been emotionally faithful to him because she was too busy thinking about her worse enemy. Just thinking about it made her head hurt. She suppose she deserved it, she should have known better than to trust Malfoy. But it was too late; the prick was in head all the time now.

And when Grant asked her again, this time gripped both her shoulders as if to shake it out of her, Rose had enough. She just wanted to go to sleep, for Grant to stop asking her and for Scorpius Malfoy to disappear from her life forever. The only thing that came to her mind was that if Grant found out, maybe the two can off one another and then she could just be left alone. So she said it, without thinking, "It was Scorpius fucking Malfoy!"

Grant looked shocked that she had finally said a name but it only took him a few seconds to bounce back. "That blond git who your cousin's friends with?" he asked indignantly.

* * *

**Grant's POV**

Grant knew the moment he stepped foot into his flat that something was wrong. Rose for one was home earlier then usual and for another, she was sitting blankly on the couch with all the lights turned off. She had given him a slight scare but he didn't show it too much. He knew something was wrong but he decided to humor her when she asked him to sit down.

And then she told him she didn't want to get married anymore. For just a second, he thought she might have figured out everything but one look at her guilty face showed that his secret was safe. It was probably something she did. He almost wanted to rolls his eyes then and there at her naiveté. He was going to marry her one way or another, even if she cheated on him. Which he was sure she didn't. But he had to lay it on her thick to show that he wasn't about to get crossed by her stupid judgment. And of course, he wanted to know who the bloke was. Grant was going to break the little prick's nose for putting a dent in his plan.

He thought it might have taken a little longer for her to break and spill the name but to his surprise, she gave it up after three tries.

"It was Scorpius fucking Malfoy!" she screamed.

It didn't take three seconds for Grant to know whom the name belonged to. "That blond git who your cousin's friends with?" he asked indignantly.

From the moment Grant set eyes on the man, he knew he wasn't to be trusted. Scorpius Malfoy had a certain air to him that shouted arrogance and sneakiness. So when Malfoy had joined Albus and him for drinks a few months back, he decided to lay low. And when Malfoy had gotten drunk enough and asked if he, Grant liked "Strong women or just famous women," he should have sensed something was up.

But he let it go because it was impossible for Malfoy to have known anything. He'd never seen the man before and he was sure Malfoy probably never seen him. He didn't go to Hogwarts like Rose and the rest of her family did. When he didn't see Malfoy again, he let his guard down. It was now up to Rose and he only needed to last one more month before he could seal the deal. But he could see now that his biggest mistake was getting drunk and taking his eyes off of Rose at the ministry ball. He'd seen Malfoy on his way to the loo but let the git walk away. Grant was sure now that he was involved one way or another with what had happened to Rose that night. Because after that night, Rose began changing. She was daydreaming more, working more, and sometimes would even ignore him when he asked her questions.

Grant was beyond angry but he kept his cool in front of Rose. He needed her to be on his side and convince her that he was okay with it all. It was going to be hard because Rose had always been self-righteous. She wouldn't understand why he was going to be nonchalant about it. But he didn't care; he was going to get her to that altar no matter what.

"Yes that stupid blond git!" Rose retorted, seemingly a bit embarrassed by this fact.

After a moment of silence, Grant spoke up. "Rose, I don't care okay? Let's just say it was a moment of weakness and get over it. I'm not stupid enough to think that a woman like you wouldn't have any admirers even if you were obviously taken," he said as he raised her left hand and eyed the ring.

"But you shouldn't have to let it slide. I should have known better," she whispered. _Bingo! _

Grant smiled, "But it doesn't matter Rose, because I love you."

However, his smile soon turned into a frown when she hesitated to say it back. And that's when he knew; his bint of a fiancé had fallen in love with the git. She didn't cheat on him physically but what she did was worse. He wouldn't be able to change her mind after this.

"You stupid lying bitch," he spat at Rose before he apparated out of there.

* * *

**Rose's POV**

Rose hasn't seen Grant for the next two days but her engagement was off, that much was certain. She'd never seen Grant so angry before in the years she'd known him. The way he had spat his last sentence out to her was so dark, it was like she was seeing a whole different side of him.

When Grant had left that night, she found herself crying to sleep on their bed. She didn't sleep until three in the morning and when she woke up, her eyes were swollen and red. She attempted to get to work but one look at her and Powell had sent her back home. If Rose didn't know any better, she would say that Powell favored her a lot more than she had led on, but Rose didn't argue. When she returned home that day, she saw that all of Grant's things were gone.

The news eventually broke to her family and one by one; they came and visited her as if someone had died. Her mother was first; she had allowed Rose to cry into her arms for an hour and sat silently patting her in the back. Her father threatened to kill Grant but one stern look from his wife and he sat right back down and hugged Rose as well. Her cousins came after; again James and Fred offered to break Grant's bones. Victoire and Dominique told her it was going to be okay and that he didn't deserve her anyway. Lily and her parents came to console her and offered to take her out to get some fresh air but Rose refused. By the end of the day, she had seen everyone, everyone except Albus.

She suspected he was still mad at her from the ball but still had no idea why. However, she was about to find out when he flooed into her flat late that night.

"Al?" she asked slightly hiccupping. She had long stopped crying but there were still some residual emotions that she couldn't get rid of.

When he stepped close enough in front of her, she could see that he was as angry as ever but she could now see that the anger wasn't directed at her. She briefly wondered if he had a fight with Elizabeth but knew it wasn't true. Albus had been in love with Elizabeth for as long as she could remember, there was no way it was about that.

"Rose," he nodded and sat next to her. She immediately found herself dropping her head onto his shoulders and the both of them sat there silently until she fell asleep.

When she had woken up the next morning, Albus had made her breakfast. She smiled at him and the two of them sat, both eating silently. It wasn't until she was halfway through her eggs before she finally addressed him.

"Al, are you angry with me?" she asked.

Albus looked up immediately and she watched as he studied her before he said, "No, of course not Rose."

Rose nodded and went back to eating. She wanted to ask what he was mad at but didn't have it in her to worry too much about it. Sure it was selfish since he was her best friend but right now, Rose was just too tired to deal with anything. All she needed to know was that Albus wasn't mad at her and that he would be by her side.

Rose didn't see Albus again until the day after when she was walking through the hall and spotted him with a few bruises on his face, walking along side Scorpius in the hospital. She was quick to notice that Scorpius wasn't exactly looking too well either but she ignored the flutter in her stomach when she saw him. Instead, she chose to focus on Albus.

Albus quickly dismissed the matter, assured her he was alright and then left. Of course, she immediately realized the position he had put her in, alone with Scorpius for the first time since their last fight. It didn't take long for him to address her.

"Rose…" he started but she was determined to not hear him.

"Leave me alone, okay?" she asked, almost pleasingly before leaving him in the hall. She needed to get away from him. He had done enough damage to her for one lifetime. Rose ran into the crowds knowing that he wouldn't be able to follow her. And when he didn't follow, she was almost sad about it but relieved nonetheless.

* * *

A/N: Well there you have it, the break up. And you guys finally got a glimpse of Grant's thoughts- by the way, this is certainly not the last time you'll see him. He has to get his revenge of course. Also, will Scorpius finally man up and tell Rose how he feels and will she be able to look past what he has done? Who's Scorpius' employer? Keep reading and as always, let me know what you thought.

And thank you all for the support! 400 reviews!? You guys are amazing :)


	25. Turn Me On

**Chapter 25- Turn Me On**

Scorpius had taken his time walking to Powell's office to hand in the resignation. As little as he had cared to work in the hospital just under a month ago, he had grown attach to it. It had become a part of his routine; even April was becoming more tolerable in the past few days. And now, it was all coming to an end. Of course he knew, starting this mission, that he wouldn't work here forever but never did he think he was going to feel sad about leaving. But if he was honest with himself, he knew the reason for his sadness had everything to do with the fiery spirit that was Rose Weasley.

"Shit," Scorpius muttered under his breath and he suddenly stopped in the middle of the hall. And with a split second of decision, he decided to make a run for Rose's office instead of Powell's. He sprinted down a flight of stairs before stopping abruptly in front of the oak door. Scorpius ran a nervous hand through his hair, which had, by now flown out of place. He turned the door handle without any thought as to if Rose was even in her office.

He was surprised to find that Rose was indeed in her office. But she was no alone and he was met by another pair of eyes. The man immediately let go of Rose's arms and stomped towards Scorpius, his eyes blazing.

"What are you doing here?" Grant sneered nastily at Scorpius. He had one hand in his pocket, which Scorpius was sure had his wand attached to it, ready to hex him the moment he stepped out of place.

Scorpius was unfazed however. Instead, he ignored Grant and looked directly at Rose. And that's when he noticed that he saw relief in her eyes as if he had saved her from Grant with his sudden appearance. "Can I talk to you outside Rose?" Scorpius asked in a calm tone.

Rose for her part acted as if she hadn't wanted to talk to him. "It's important, Powell asked for me to get you," Scorpius added.

"Fine but make it quick," she quipped. Scorpius almost chuckled. Here she was, obviously uncomfortable with Grant's presence, which he might have just save her from and she was still handing him the same fiery attitude she always had.

"I was talking to her Malfoy," Grant spoke up and stood between the two of them, not permitting Rose to leave without a fight.

Scorpius arched his brow and stood a little straighter to surpass Grant's height even more. "Are you sure you want to risk Powell coming down here and hexing your arse off for keeping Rose from her sick patients?"

Grant seemed to had stood down for a second, thinking over the repercussions and decided that it wasn't worth the trouble. He moved a little to let Rose pass but as she walked toward the door, he grabbed her arm. "We're not done talking Rose," he said in an almost threatening voice.

Scorpius immediately found himself stepping forward and pushing Grant off. "You can talk when Rose is done with work," he growled.

Grant threw Scorpius' hand away in a fit. "This is none of your business Malfoy. I have a right to speak to my fiancé without you interrupting," he refuted.

Scorpius wasn't about to stand down but Rose got there before Scorpius had a chance to speak. "I'm not your fiancé anymore Grant," Rose said firmly and marched herself out of the office. She threw a hard look at him on her way out.

Rose and Scorpius walked side by side for a second before she spoke. "I didn't need your help," she said matter of factly.

"Didn't say you did," Scorpius replied easily. They continued walking through the hall, not sure where either of them were headed but definitely away from Grant.

"Rose," Scorpius started again but didn't have a chance to continue as she spun around.

"Why do you keep following me? You're like a stupid puppy that won't go away!" Rose said.

Scorpius raised his brow, "You think puppies are stupid?"

Rose huffed, "You're an insufferable git!" She turned away from him and started walking away again.

"No wait, Rose," Scorpius said as he grabbed her arm to stop her.

She crossed her arms and watched him like a lioness watching her prey, her eyes unwavering. "Look, there's something I have to tell you," he started.

She didn't speak but gave somewhat of an encouraging look. He shuffled forward and drew his face close to her ear and whispered, "Meet me at the Leaky after you get off work."

Scorpius lingered a little longer than he should have, taking in her smell as he pulled away. "Why should I?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because you want to know what I have to say," he said, a statement.

"Who said I wanted to hear what you have to say?" Rose asked defiantly.

Scorpius dared to close in on her again, this time; he pushed a ringlet of hair away from her face and whispered, "Don't lie Rose."

He watched her eyes as they turned into a darker shade but her face was still unreadable. She seemed to be battling with herself inside her head. Finally after a few minutes, she nodded reluctantly.

He gave a small smile before walking toward Powell's office again. "Wait, where are you going?" she asked, catching him off guard.

"I've been fired," he shrugged.

"What?!" Rose screeched.

Again, Scorpius shrugged. "I'll see you tonight," he said and walked away.

* * *

Scorpius sat waiting in the Leaky Cauldron for what seemed like forever. He had checked with Heather one last time to see when Rose was getting off. It was now ten past eight. He reasoned that it would take some time for her to pack up and get to the pub. He waited for another twenty minutes and still she did not show.

Finally, almost forty-five minutes after Rose's day had supposedly ended, Scorpius looked up for what seemed to be the fiftieth time. However, he did not see Rose, but Grant instead. The man took a few seconds to look around the dimly lit pub before spotting Scorpius. He had a determined look in his eyes as he approached Scorpius and when he had reached the blond man, without hesitation, Grant struck him hard in the gut.

"You think you can just mess with someone's girl and get away with it Malfoy?" Grant spat and punched him again.

Scorpius felt as if he had the wind knocked out of him. He held the table for support and after the third punch, this time to his face; people had finally started noticing what was going on. Hannah Longbottom, the pub owner came rushing out of the back room and had her wand pointed at Grant's face.

"Get out. I don't know what's going on with you Grant, but you better take this outside," she said, directing it half at Scorpius as well.

"Does Rose know you're here drunk?" Hannah asked.

Grant laughed sarcastically. "Rose? That cheating bitch has nothing on me. I'm just here to give her lover boy here the complementary beating," he chided.

Scorpius watched as Hannah Longbottom's mouth dropped before closing it. "I will not condone that kind of accusatory language. Take it outside," she said.

"Accusatory?" Grant said raising on brow. He turned to face Scorpius, "Go on, tell her you two haven't been sneaking behind my back."

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about Barnes," Scorpius said as he composed himself before throwing a punch at Grant who hadn't been paying attention. The man dropped to the ground without much resistance, groaning inaudibly on the floor. "But touch me again and a broken engagement is the last thing you're going to be worrying about."

He didn't wait for Hannah to throw him out and walked out of the pub willingly. As he walked down the street toward the alleyway to apparate back to his flat, he bumped into someone. The same strawberry scent that he had smelled earlier entered his nose.

Rose looked surprised at meeting him at the alleyway since they had originally agreed to meet at the pub. "I got caught up with something," she said without being asked.

She squinted at him before she gasped, "What happened to your face?"

Scorpius instinctively reached up to touch his temple where Grant had punched him. There was definitely some bruising but before he could say anything, Rose's eyes had widened again. "And your hand," she said immediately grabbing his bloody knuckle and examining it like the healer she was.

"It's nothing," Scorpius waved away.

"That doesn't look like it's nothing. What the hell happened?" Rose asked.

"Nothing, I'm going home," Scorpius replied.

"No, you're getting that checked out at the hospital," Rose argued.

Scorpius gave Rose a challenging look, "I'm going home." And without another word, he spun on the spot and apparated away.

When he reached his flat, he leaned against the wall, rubbing his eyes. _What the hell was he doing?_ However, before he had any time to think, he heard a pop to his left. Rose had followed him.

"What the hell was that?" Rose spat as she stomped toward him. "You asked me to meet you and then you look like you got beaten up for the second time today. I don't know what the hell happened earlier with Albus but something happened. And then you just ditch me in the alleyway," she said, catching her breath after her short rant.

"Say some…"she started but didn't get to finish.

And without thinking, Scorpius swooped down and captured her lips with his. At first she had been surprised and didn't react at all. But after the initial shock, she had attempted to pull away for a good ten seconds but Scorpius didn't relent. And finally as if a thread had been broken, he slowly felt her resolve dissolve and he took advantage her moment of submission by grabbing her face even tighter. It wasn't long before he managed to part her lips and the kiss deepened into fiery passion.

He felt his heart pounding hard against his ribcage as he fought against his thoughts; his mind telling him that this was a bad idea but he didn't care. He'd wanted to do this for so long and here she was, willingly kissing him back with the same intensity he had forced onto her.

His mouth left hers for a moment, allowing both to catch their breath but Scorpius immediately busied himself by placing small kisses along her jaw before finding the crook between her ear and neck. He smothered his face into her neck, sucking it hard; the bruising would surely be inevitable. He could hear her gasp but he didn't stop, and she didn't stop him. When he was done with her neck, he trailed his tongue over it down to where her vein was beating. He felt her pull his hair hard as his tongue flickered over her pulsing flesh.

Rose had apparently had enough of his teasing and pulled his face back up where her lips crashed into his with resounding strength. After another long kiss, she pulled back firmly. She had this crazy look in her eyes as if she couldn't believe what she had just done. And for a second, Scorpius was sure she would snap and realize this was all a mistake. But instead, she breathed hard to catch her breath, her voice sounding a little huskier but her instructions were clear nonetheless. "Take off your shirt."

Scorpius didn't usually like to be bossed around but somehow, the tone of her voice, and the fact that it was Rose; turned him on. He didn't need telling twice and easily slipped his shirt off, revealing his chiseled body. He could see the hunger in her eyes, most definitely hating herself for wanting him like this. But he relished the thought and smirked as her eyes traveled from his collarbone to his navel.

She took two steps forward and swung her arms around his neck, pulling him down to continue where she had left off. However, it didn't take long for her hands unravel around his neck and slide them down his chest, her fingers dancing delicately and leaving a trail of burns across his skin.

As she busied herself with his newly revealed skin, he continued to deepen their kiss but his body ached for more. He needed her to be closer than they already were. Without another thought, he grabbed her thigh and lifted it up against his hip and she seemed to realize what he was trying to do. The next second, he had hoisted her onto him and he began making his way to his bedroom.

By the time he'd reach the bed, she had lost a particle of clothing as well. Both were panting heavily when they stopped to catch their breath. Scorpius watched as her chest rose slightly with each breath, her bundle of hair sprawled evenly on his bed and her eyes, her blue eyes had darken by five shades and was now pitch black. He was sure his own grey eyes had dilated, reflecting a similar shade of color.

This time, he leaned down slowly. Each kiss was deliberately slow as he trailed his hand from her legs all the way to her stomach until his thumb slightly grazing the bottom of her breasts, which were now visible, as her bra had risen just an inch. When she did not protest, he slid his whole hand over her breast. As he performed his ministrations, he felt her hips arching against him. Her head pushed back, revealing her elongated neck, which was now clearly sporting the bruise that Scorpius had given her earlier.

He savored her scent as he preyed on her neck. And when his mouth traveled close enough to her ears, he couldn't help the words that slipped out of his mouth. "I want you so bad," he croaked in between the panting.

Scorpius felt Rose's body freeze almost instantly and he raised his head slightly to take in her reaction. He wasn't going to do anything if she didn't. Hell, he wouldn't have even gone this far if she hadn't let him but they were now in too deep for him to regret anything. Rose bit her bottom lip as if contemplating and Scorpius felt a pang of sadness, foreseeing her rejection but also for springing it on her, he realized.

"You don't have to," he murmured. But almost as if she thought he was challenging her, she pulled him down hard and locked her lips with his. And along with that, Scorpius felt her head nodding as she ran her hands messily through his hair.

* * *

A/N: Holy crap, I almost didn't make an update. I've been having writer's block and hadn't actually written for almost 3-4 weeks since that was when I wrote my last chapter. But then I was like, "No I must make this update! I have to finish this story!" And you know what? When I started writing, everything started rolling. To be honest, I hadn't actually planned for this much "action" in the chapter but it sort of just came to be and I liked it. But seriously guys, let me know what you think.


	26. In My Veins

A/N: Hey guys, hit another milestone, 200 follows! Cool beans. Okay so originally I was going to write mostly from Scorpius' POV this chapter because I definitely didn't think I needed to repeat last chapter from Rose's POV but...I did think her POV was better for the day after. And I still think so after finishing this chapter, so hope you're not too disappointed- I know how you guys love reading from Scorpius' POV. More below but will let you start the chapter now...

* * *

**Chapter 26- In My Veins**

Scorpius' mind was whirling when he woke up the next morning. The sun was barely up but he'd long gotten use to the early days working at St. Mungos. The days were slowly growing cooler as fall had approached. Today was also the day his contract officially ended, although his mission had been completed days earlier thanks to Rose's decision to break off the engagement with Grant. Scorpius still wasn't sure what the reason was but somehow, it didn't make him feel any better that he wasn't the one who had officially cut the cord.

He turned his head slowly to the side to see the woman lying beside him; her fiery hair sprawled over his spare pillow. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. _So it hadn't all been a dream. _Scorpius felt an unexplainable weight fall from his shoulders at the thought. He reached for a ringlet of her hair and pushed it behind her ear slowly so as to not wake her. He smiled sadly; there wasn't much time but he swore, he would be able to stare at her all day if they had the time. Reluctantly, he dropped his hand from her face and started to get up.

* * *

**Rose's POV**

Rose wasn't really sure why she had stayed all night even after he'd fallen asleep. As Scorpius slept by her side, she was stiff on the other side of the bed. A million thoughts ran through her head, trying to rationalize what she had just done, what _they _had just done. Had she actually just broken up her engagement and had a one-night stand with her former enemy turned…Rose had no word to describe what Scorpius was to her. She turned her head slightly to see the blond head of Scorpius Malfoy, her eyes trailed down to his naked chest and then to her own body. _No, this was definitely not a dream._

A handful of times during the night, she had decided to leave the bed and apparate back to her flat but as soon as she lifted an arm, she felt movement from the other side of the bed. And for some reason, she couldn't justify leaving the bed. She'd even reasoned that it was bad taste to do the walk of shame, especially with Scorpius Malfoy but she knew that wasn't it. And by the time the light had begun shining through the windows, she had somehow convinced herself to stay in Scorpius' bed for the whole night.

It was only until she felt him stir awake that she understood the magnitude of the situation she was in. Rose quickly shut her eyes and pretended to sleep as she felt the weight of the bed shift. She couldn't see what he was doing and she didn't dare open her eyes to take a peek. It was silent for a moment and Rose wondered if he had suddenly came to his senses when he awoke to still find her lying next to him. Had he expected the bed to be empty when he woke up? She suspected he was probably used to that. She inwardly berated herself for being so stupid, but it was too late now. She'd have to wait until he was gone to leave now.

The silence was excruciating and she didn't know if she could handle it any longer. But just as she was about to give up the charade, she felt a warm hand cup her face and she almost gave herself away. Her heart was pumping blood way too fast for the early morning. A second later, she felt him tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. This was followed by another minute of silence. And by now, Rose was sure her heart was going to explode.

Thankfully, soon after, Scorpius had gotten off the bed and had made his way to the bathroom. But it wasn't until she heard the water turn on from the showers did Rose feel safe to open her eyes. She quickly scanned the room and found all of her clothes and her bag. However, when she reached for her wand, it wasn't there. Frantic, Rose started digging through her bag but no luck. She jumped onto the bed again, throwing the pillows and sheets out of the way in a mad attempt to find her missing wand and leave before Scorpius got out.

Growing ever frustrated, she started to cry. She felt the tears trickle down her face while she thumped the defenseless bed. What the hell was she thinking? Was she even thinking when she had decided to sleep with Scorpius Malfoy? And if that wasn't enough, that smart brain of hers had convinced her to stay in his bed all night. The gods were definitely laughing down at her, she was sure; even if she wasn't a particularly religious person.

She hadn't even registered when the water had stopped and the room had suddenly become warmer from the steam pooling out of the bathroom. "Rose?" Scorpius had said somewhat hesitantly. Her head shot up at the sound of his voice. She felt her breath hitch at the sight of his tousled hair, a rare sight, the tips still dripping with water down to his still naked chest. And as if a switch had flipped, she suddenly realized how hot the room had gotten.

Rose turned her head away from him, wiping the tears away from her face. "Sorry, I was looking for my wand," she started as she stood up and continued looking. "I would have left earlier…" she started again, _if it weren't my own stupidity. _But she didn't get the chance to finish when Scorpius stopped her at the door. She so taken aback that she almost crashed straight into his chest and when she tried to distance herself, she almost stumbled onto the floor. But she hadn't, his strong arms had caught her around the waist and pulled them close again.

"I should…" Rose whispered, mesmerized by his face but had been cut off again, this time by his lips which were now soundly on top of hers. Instantly, her mind jumped back to the night before and the euphoria that ran through her veins.

"…go," she finished weakly after his lips had left hers. She looked away from him again; she knew if she continued looking straight at him that her blush would give her away.

"This was a mi…" she whispered.

"Don't," he interrupted as he placed his finger under her chin and turned her to face him. Rose could see his pained face as he looked at her.

She stood frozen as she let him pull her even closer. She watched as he lowered his head but he hadn't kissed her in the lips this time. He had bent toward her neck and kissed her delicately below her ear. "Don't say it," he whispered. Rose had trouble controlling the shiver that went down her spine.

She continued letting him hold her, almost possessively but she didn't fight to get him off. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Scorpius finally pulled away. The change in temperature was immediate and Rose suddenly felt a lot colder. "Let's talk about this after work," he said but it was more like a question. Rose sighed and nodded silently. She couldn't help but noticed the sad smile that flickered on his face.

He nodded once more and placed a kiss on top of her forehead. "I'm sorry Rose," he whispered so lowly she almost hadn't caught it. But when she tried to ask what he meant, "Your wand is on the kitchen top," he said, pointing to the wand that undoubtedly belonged to her.

"Thanks," Rose said before walking out and grabbing her wand. For a second, their eyes met before she the spinning sensation that tugged behind her navel pulled her away.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Rose's mind was clouded with the events that happened last night and then this morning. In just a mere 24 hours, she'd gone from wanting to ignore Scorpius, to agreeing to meet him after work, following him to his flat, snogging him senseless and sleeping with him. And then this morning, there was a weirdly intimate moment between them that she couldn't explain. And in those 24 hours, she realized she'd never felt this way about anyone else, not even Grant. She was sure this meant something, which was why she had agreed to meet Scorpius again.

She found herself looking at the clock numerous times throughout the day, wanting it to be over already. She had no idea what Scorpius had wanted to tell her, it was something he wanted to say yesterday but hadn't had the chance. It wasn't until she reached the end of the hall did something finally distract her from her meeting with Scorpius. For a small second, she had thought it was Scorpius who was standing there but upon closer inspection, she noticed the man had less hair, was slight shorter and much older.

"Mr. Malfoy?" she asked incredulously.

Draco Malfoy looked up at her upon hearing her call him. His face was sullen and eyes were bloodshot. For a moment she thought he was waiting to be seen by a healer but when he saw her, he immediately stood up.

"Rose Weasley," he said simply.

"Yes," Rose said in a questioning tone.

"Have you seen Scorpius?" he asked.

Rose felt her heart race at his question. _Does Mr. Malfoy know what happened between the two of them? "_No of course not, don't be silly," Rose thought. _But why would Draco Malfoy ask her if she knew where Scorpius was? _Rose almost slapped herself in the head; Scorpius had been working here for a month after all. But what would she tell him? That she had seen his son this morning after they had slept together the night before?

She could see Mr. Malfoy watching her curiously from his penetrating gray eyes, the same ones Scorpius had inherited. "I…I didn't see him," was all Rose could manage. She watched as Mr. Malfoy's shoulders slump at her reply.

"But I could try to find him," she added as a second thought, feeling bad about lying. Mr. Malfoy had obviously wanted to see his son. "Or pass on a message," she added.

Draco shook his head, "He'll get the message soon," he said as he looked at the direction of a door. Rose furrowed her brow as she followed his gaze.

She continued to look confused until Draco had explained, "It's Astoria. She…she doesn't have long." Comprehension dawned upon her as she realized Mr. Malfoy wasn't the sick one, it was Scorpius' mother, Astoria Greengrass. Without another thought, she walked toward the door and opened it. There on the bed, laid Astoria Greengrass. Her once elegant and aristocratic face was now pale and sickly. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked very tired.

"What happened?" was all Rose could ask.

"She told me not to tell him," Draco said.

"Scorpius?" Rose asked.

Draco Malfoy nodded solemnly. "Tell him what?" Rose asked but she knew without him saying that Astoria Greengrass was not likely to leave the hospital. Mr. Malfoy didn't answer her as he stepped close to the bed where Astoria laid. Rose took the patient chart and read off the only word that mattered, _melaneurus_. She put the chart back down, her arms were growing limp at the knowledge that Astoria Greengrass was terminally ill, had been for several months already. Mr. Malfoy had paid no attention to her however and was still looking at his ex-wife. And for the first time, Rose wonder had happened between Scorpius' parents.

Rose watched as he placed a gentle hand on her face and tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. Rose was suddenly reminded of the familiar gesture, the same one that Scorpius had taken a habit of doing to her.

"Is she…?" Rose asked.

"Sleeping," Draco answered monotonously. Rose let out a sigh of relief. She stayed for a minute longer until she felt she was intruding.

"I'll go call Scorpius," she muttered. Draco hadn't turned or made any sudden movement but she felt it was a good excuse to leave the room.

Rose immediately went to her office to use the floo and call Scorpius. He was probably still at home seeing as he no longer worked at St. Mungos. She couldn't imagine he'd be out looking for another job already. She hastily threw a handful of green powder into the fireplace and plunged her face into the cool fire after calling out the address to his flat.

When her face popped out on the other side, she didn't see anyone in the empty living room. She called his name a few times but no one had answered. After five minutes of no answer, she decided that he wasn't home. When she had pulled her head out of the fireplace, she briefly debated on apparating to his flat directly but decided it wasn't her place. Mr. Malfoy had already said Scorpius would find out soon and must have sent an owl already.

She had one foot out the door when she spotted the one person she hadn't wanted to see. He had seen her and was making his way toward her. She noticed his slightly swollen lip as he approached. Rose really didn't want to talk to him but she knew she couldn't avoid it and was desperate to not make a scene so she stepped back into her office and left the door open for him.

"If this is about the engagement, Grant, it's over. I don't want to talk about it anymore," she said, her arms crossed against her chest.

Grant laughed almost sadistically. "Oh but you'll want to hear about what I have to say Rose."

Rose loosened her arms slightly and found herself leaning forward just a bit, still keeping her distance from Grant. She had seen the other side of Grant and she wasn't keen on being too close to him. "Oh? And what is it that you have to tell me this time, Grant?" she asked.

"It's about Malfoy," he smirked. There was something slightly disturbing about his smirk, as if he was enjoying himself a little too much.

"Well spit it out or get out of my office," Rose spat.

Grant held out his two hands defensively, "No need to blow a casket woman. Besides, I'm sure you'll be directing that attitude of yours away from me soon enough."

Rose watched Grant intently. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped. "On second thought, I would love a coffee right about now," he said, almost humorously.

But Rose wasn't having any of his games, "Speak," she commanded in a deadly tone.

"Geez, were you always this uptight or only after Malfoy stuck his stick up your arse?" Grant laughed darkly. However, when Rose stood motionless and unreactive to his somewhat accurate joke, he dropped the smirk.

"You know, I really have to hand it to him," Grant said. "It took him, what, a month? To get you to fall in love with him."

Rose furrowed her brow, "What are you on about Grant?"

"Oh don't play stupid with me woman, if you're going to cheat on your fiancé, at least have some tact and admit you're in love with the git," Grant said nastily.

Rose felt the knots twist in her stomach as Grant spat out the words that she had been too scared to admit to herself. "Get over yourself Grant, I never cheated on you!" she responded immediately, however.

Grant arched his brow and Rose felt herself shrinking at his gaze. Sure she hadn't physically cheated on him but who was she kidding. She had been falling for a man that wasn't her fiancé. And she was definitely guilty of flirting with Scorpius more than once. But she wasn't going to voice any of this.

"Fine, fine, say what you will, deny everything. But you're going to regret it all," he said maliciously.

"Is that a threat Grant?" Rose challenged.

"No, no threat, you two can destroy each other. I'm done with you," Grant said.

"So why are you still here?" Rose asked annoyed that he was toying with her with information that she supposedly needed to know.

"Patience Rose, patience," Grant said calmly.

Rose willed herself not to hex him then and there. He was even more arrogant and full of himself than Scorpius. How she fell in love with him, she would never know. Deciding that she'd had enough of his games, she stood to walk past him and out the door.

"Haven't you wondered why Scorpius Malfoy suddenly decided to appear in your life after all these years of hating you? Why he got a job at St. Mungos the same time your potioneer friend Tom had magically won a vacation to Australia for a month?" Grant said.

The questions had pierced her brain but this was all part of Grant's game wasn't it. To get her riled up no doubt. "What are you trying to say?" she growled as she whipped around to face him.

His face was plain but Rose could see the laughter in his eyes. He took a few steps closer until he was a few inches away from her. "You know, for a smart girl, you sure are very dumb Rose," he said while holding her chin.

Rose immediately slapped his hand away but said nothing. "Scorpius Malfoy was hired to make you fall in love with him to break up our engagement," he finally said.

At that moment, Rose felt the air grow heavy making it hard to breathe. Her head was dizzy with all the information Grant had just spilled. There was a lump in her throat as she fought to keep her voice steady, "You're a liar Grant." But she was sure he could sense her lack of conviction.

"Am I Rose?" Grant asked jovially. "Think about it Rose. Deep inside, you know I'm telling the truth."

"Why would someone do that? Why would he agree to do it?" Rose asked, sadness enveloping her tone.

Grant smirked, "Do you really have to ask Rose? You really think Scorpius Malfoy considers you a friend?"

"Who hired him then?" Rose demanded, growing angrier by the second. Her heart holding onto its last hope, surely Grant couldn't lie about this, she would find out.

But Grant smirked; almost as if he was too glad for her to ask the question, waiting to make his last strike. "It was…"

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A/N: Hehehehe, I feel like I'm scheming or something. *taps fingers together in an evil way* Now I know how everyone hates cliffhangers and I know I do too but this was just too good to pass up. Although, I do hope you guys don't hate me enough to at least let me know what you thought of this chapter. Angry rants are welcome :) FYI, I made "melaneurus" up...its basically the equivalent of brain cancer but I didn't want to mix up muggle and wizard diseases so had a different name.**  
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Also, can I just say how awesome you guys are?! Seriously, I found myself blushing multiple times at the comments you guys left for the last chapter. Thanks for making my day. Definitely not giving up on this story until the very end!


	27. Demons

**Chapter 27- Demons**

**Astoria's POV**

Astoria Greengrass woke up in a dimly lit room, from the looks of it, it was already nighttime. She had slept through the whole day but felt tired nonetheless. There was nothing to be done though and she knew this. She had known for a long time now that this would be her fate. She wasn't bitter, only sad of what, or rather, whom she was leaving behind. For almost half his life, she was his only parent and she wasn't sure who would look after him after she'd done. Sure Scorpius was a grown man now but there was still so much he needed to learn. He needed to learn to forgive, to trust and most importantly, to love.

She wasn't a fool; she'd known Scorpius didn't have the easiest life. Sure he had everything in terms of material goods but he lacked a father figure growing up, and then the incident with Anna last year- made it even worse. Astoria was scared that he would end up alone with no one to love. And she didn't want to leave her little boy to that fate. This was partly the reason why she hadn't yet told him about her condition, it was selfish but she couldn't bare the thought of it.

And then there was the man who was currently sitting next to her; the one that Scorpius greatly resembled. She watched with a smile as he slept on the chair. Draco had been by her side ever since her diagnosis and had given her the support she needed to get by. It had been a chance coincidence that they met during one of her check ups. Astoria had gone in for one of her therapy sessions when she bumped into her ex-husband. He was surprised to see her and after an awkward greeting, he asked her to join him for coffee.

"_Hello Astoria, it's been a while," Draco greeted rather properly._

"_Draco," Astoria nodded demurely as she avoided his eyes, she didn't want anyone knowing why she was in the hospital, certainly not her ex-husband. _

_The two stood silently in the middle of the bustling hall until a healer ran past them and almost knocked her off her feet. She felt herself falling back, the therapy's had made her more weak and vulnerable, but Draco had quickly reached forward and held her steady. Astoria's eyes shot up to him and he quickly let go of her shoulders. He avoided her eyes the same and rubbed the back of his head nervously._

"_Alright?" he asked, finally looking back her._

_She nodded again, "Thanks."_

"_Well, I should get going," Astoria said, the same time he asked," Do you want to get some coffee?"_

"_Oh…" Astoria managed but didn't say anything else. She honestly didn't know what to say to his offer. She had long forgiven him and she was no young girl anymore but it had been so long. What would she talk to him about? Did he want to see Scorpius? _

"_Don't worry about it Astoria. I shouldn't have ask," he replied after her prolonged silence. _

_She smiled, "I'm sorry, it's just today's not a good day. Maybe another time." Even if she wanted to have coffee with him, she was just too tired today._

_Draco nodded solemnly as she turned to go. _

_She didn't see him or hear from him until a month later when they bumped into each other again in the café outside the hospital. And this time, it almost felt as if he had gone back to his confident teenage years. He was completely charming and insisted she join him for a cup of coffee. She found herself agreeing without much convincing. Draco Malfoy didn't have the best public perception after the war. She knew about his insecurities and his fears but she also knew about his warmer side. And it was this side that was appealing to her today._

_After the initial pleasantries, they broached deeper, something Astoria was afraid of since the day she'd seen him in the hospital. But as they started talking, she felt herself relax around him._

"_So how has America been?" she asked. _

"_Oh absolutely horrible," he said with a deadpan but she managed to catch that signature smirk creep onto his face. _

"_Come now, surely there must have been something good," she chuckled._

"_I suppose the weather is better," Draco replied nonchalantly. _

"_How's Scorpius?" he asked rather abruptly but unsurprisingly. _

_She had expected this question some time or another. "He's doing fine."_

_Draco nodded and this seemed to be enough for him. After that, they continue discussing unimportant matters until their mugs were empty. She thanked him for the company and turned to leave until he asked if they could meet again. She had been afraid of this the most but for some reason, she found herself agreeing to meet him again._

_A few months past and they continued to meet one another although no one knew about it. They usually met in that café but after Astoria found out her treatments were no longer working, she stopped visiting the café. She didn't bother telling him. In fact, she all but shut everyone out except for Scorpius. It wasn't until a month later when she went to the hospital to see how far along the melaneurus was that she bumped into him again. _

"_Were you ever planning to tell me about this?" he asked._

"_What do you mean?" she lied weakly._

"_Astoria, you're sick. You're…you're…" he started but struggled to complete it._

"_Dying," she finished for him. She shrugged as he looked on. "I didn't think I should burden you with that information. Besides, you and I, we…it's not a big deal really," she said._

_She could see his nose flaring, his eyes blazing, "Does Scorpius know about this?"_

_She was caught off guard by the question but shook her head as he continued to stare at her, relentless. "Damn it Astoria," he cursed as he kicked a nearby chair._

"_You can't tell him," she cut in._

"_Why the hell not, he's your son. Doesn't he deserve to know?" Draco asked._

_And for the first time in a long time, she saw the other side of him. The side that deep down, she knew cared deeply about their son and family._

_She didn't know what happened but after their confrontation, something brought them closer together again. He insisted on seeing her and she didn't refuse. But she did make him promise not to tell Scorpius; she wanted to be the one who did. Of course that didn't stop him from asking her if she had done it yet everytime they met. He had even admitted during one occasion when he had seen Scorpius in the hospital on business and almost told him…not that Scorpius had wanted to talk anyway. That was another thing they had talked about extensively, Scorpius. _

_She had been angry with him that he almost told Scorpius. "You won't let me plan a meet for the two of you but you're willing to blurt out to him the one thing I asked you not to do?" she yelled._

"_That's different Astoria, and you know it! Besides, the boy's made it perfectly clear he wants nothing to do with me," Draco replied._

"_That's not for you to decide," she argued._

"_He hates me," he said defeated._

_Astoria couldn't stand it anymore, "So did I! But here I am talking to you."_

_She saw him flinch and quickly realized she said something she shouldn't have. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."_

"_Yes you did," he sighed. "And it's okay, I deserve it, I'm just happy you don't anymore…you don't right?" he asked unsurely._

_Astoria smiled sadly, "I haven't hated you for a long time now, Draco."_

"How long have you been staring at me?" Draco interrupted with a smug tone.

Astoria rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, it seemed to be the only thing that didn't tire her out. "Only for a minute."

Draco stood up and stretched before walking up next to her, "How are you feeling Astoria?"

She shrugged, "Not worse, not better."

She watched as he sighed and kneeled next to her, "When are you going to tell Scorpius? You know what the healers said," he whispered lightly as he touched her cheek with his hand. "You can't keep this a secret forever, he deserves to know," he continued.

Astoria sighed, "I know."

Draco raised his brow, waiting for her to continue. "We'll send a letter to him tomorrow," she finally said.

"And you'll tell…" Draco began but she cut him off, "We'll tell him," she said surprisingly strong and squeezed his hand. She gazed into his eyes not knowing how he was feeling about this but she had to make this work. He has to be the one to be there for Scorpius; they would need each other.

Finally, he nodded.

* * *

**Scorpius' POV**

After Rose had left, he hastily threw on a shirt and picked up the note that he had received and had kept for a few days now. _Congratulations, your mission is complete and you are thereby released from this contract. _

So it was officially done. But that was only the easy part, the hard part was later. Scorpius knew now that Rose wasn't just another job, she had become a part of his life and he wanted more of it. The problem was how he was going to convince her that he wanted to be with her and to trust him after all of this. For now, he planned to visit his employer and tell him of his intentions of telling Rose the whole story. Whether she forgives him is entirely up to her but he knew it wouldn't be fair to lead her on with this secret looming over them.

He pushed the note into his pocket and grabbed his wand; with a twirling sensation, he apparated away. As Scorpius disappeared into thin air, a screech owl landed on his windowsill, a message attached to its leg.

Scorpius arrived at the ministry and walked to his office door, knocked on it three times before he let him in. The man sitting across the table looked up with his hazel eyes and a lazy smile graced his face. "Malfoy, what are you doing here? Didn't you get my letter?"

"We need to talk, Potter," Scorpius replied emotionless.

He nodded and Scorpius turned around once again and closed the door, the one with "James Potter" written across the golden plaque.

* * *

**A/N: Okay I admit I'm probably the most horrible person ever! I definitely did not plan to leave you guys hanging with that cliffie for over a month. I have no excuse except to say that work got very busy very quickly. I've been so tired lately that all I want to do is go to sleep when I get home. And I've had this chapter like half done for weeks now but finally getting a breather so decided to finally finish this chapter. **

**It may not have been what you were expecting/hoping for the most part but had to get this chapter in for sake of closing some loose ends, and of course, the ending ;) [Come one guys, tell the truth, how many of you thought it was James? - quite a few I know, from your comments] I hope it won't be another month for the next update and thank you guys for sticking around. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them but other than that, bare with me! I promise to finish this story! And Happy Independence Day to all my American readers!  
**


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